Dubai Fines Polluting Tanker

Dubai fined a tanker $40,900 for dumping oil off the Gulf Arab emirate's coast, still recovering from a spill last month, the United Arab Emirates' news agency WAM reported. Hussein Lootah, Dubai municipality's deputy director for environmental affairs, told the agency that the tanker was caught on Thursday dumping waste oil off Port Rashid. Lootah identified the vessel as Atlantic Blue, without giving further details. It was not immediately clear if he was referring to the 338,000-dwt tanker with the same name which is operated by Singapore-based Tanker Pacific Singapore. He said swift action was necessary because there were many such violations in UAE waters.