Dubai: There might be more garbage in the Creek than you’d expect. And no, they’re not just plastic bags and empty soda cans.
On Monday, Dubai Municipality successfully recovered two dhows that were gutted in a fire since February 2016.
Each vessel weighed an average of 50 tonnes and were up to 25 metres long, taking the municipality two days to carry out the operation.
The vessels went down seven to eight months ago at their docking stations along the Creek, said Yaqub Al Ali, head of the specialised cleaning section at the municipality’s waste management department.
Speaking to Gulf News, Al Ali said: “The dhows were sunk off wharfage number six and seven, and were carrying cargo for commercial purposes. Both boats were involved in a fire, but to extinguish them, firefighters had to cut a hole through the dhows and sink them."
The operation involved close coordination with the Roads and Transport Authority, Maritime Rescue Department of Dubai Police, the Civil Defence Department, Dubai Customs, and volunteers from the private sector.
Al Ali explained that the vessels were submerged in waters that were up to six metres deep, and in addition to occupying pace, they were also obscuring the flow of boats in the area.
“The wreckage was loaded onto a floating platform and removed from the Creek. The wood will be sent to the landfill and the metal will be scrapped,” he said.
