Egypt to Raise Awareness About Water Pollution Risks

The Pyramid of Khufu, the largest of the Great Pyramids of Giza, is seen before sunset during high temperature behind a canal which flows into the River Nile on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt August 4, 2022. (Reuters)
The Pyramid of Khufu, the largest of the Great Pyramids of Giza, is seen before sunset during high temperature behind a canal which flows into the River Nile on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt August 4, 2022. (Reuters)
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Egypt to Raise Awareness About Water Pollution Risks

The Pyramid of Khufu, the largest of the Great Pyramids of Giza, is seen before sunset during high temperature behind a canal which flows into the River Nile on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt August 4, 2022. (Reuters)
The Pyramid of Khufu, the largest of the Great Pyramids of Giza, is seen before sunset during high temperature behind a canal which flows into the River Nile on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt August 4, 2022. (Reuters)

Egypt's Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation will carry out a major clean-up campaign along the Nile River.

A statement by the Ministry on Friday stated that the campaign will protect and clean the Nile River from pollution and plastic waste, preserve aquatic biodiversity, and raise environmental awareness.

“This major campaign to clean the Nile River will be recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest campaign ever in the world, and a distinct opportunity as it is the longest cleaning campaign in terms of kilometers, with the participation of the largest number of participants, and the removal of the largest expected amount of waste,” said Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel-Atti.

The campaign will be carried out in Cairo, Giza, Qalyubia , Dakahlia, Damietta, Gharbia, Menoufia, Kafr El Sheikh, Beheira, Beni Suef, Minya, Assiut, Sohag, Qena, Luxor and Aswan, the statement added.

It will be launched on September 17, coinciding with the celebration of the World Cleanliness Day, as part of the ongoing preparations for holding the Fifth Cairo Water Week and preparing for activities during the upcoming COP27 climate conference that will be held in Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh.

The Ministry of Irrigation has kicked off a strategy to manage water in Egypt until the year 2037 with investments worth more than $50 billion.

The Nile water accounts for more than 90 percent of Egypt’s needs or 55.5 billion cubic meters.



Historic Ship Completes First Leg of Journey to Become World’s Largest Artificial Reef

The SS United States is towed at sunset past Key West, Fla., headed to Mobile, Ala., Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, where it will be prepared to be used as an artificial reef. (Rob O'Neal/The Key West Citizen via AP)
The SS United States is towed at sunset past Key West, Fla., headed to Mobile, Ala., Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, where it will be prepared to be used as an artificial reef. (Rob O'Neal/The Key West Citizen via AP)
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Historic Ship Completes First Leg of Journey to Become World’s Largest Artificial Reef

The SS United States is towed at sunset past Key West, Fla., headed to Mobile, Ala., Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, where it will be prepared to be used as an artificial reef. (Rob O'Neal/The Key West Citizen via AP)
The SS United States is towed at sunset past Key West, Fla., headed to Mobile, Ala., Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, where it will be prepared to be used as an artificial reef. (Rob O'Neal/The Key West Citizen via AP)

The historic, aging ocean liner that a Florida county plans to turn into the world’s largest artificial reef has completed the first leg of its final voyage.

The SS United States, a 1,000-foot (305-meter) vessel that shattered the trans-Atlantic speed record on its maiden voyage in 1952, arrived early Monday in Mobile, Alabama, nearly two weeks after departing from south Philadelphia’s Delaware River.

The ship was due to arrive at a repair facility in Mobile later Monday. Crews will spend about six months cleaning and preparing the ship before it is eventually sunk off Florida’s Gulf Coast.

The 1,800-mile (2,897-kilometer) move south started on Feb. 19, about four months after a years-old rent dispute was resolved between the conservancy that oversees the ship and its landlord. Plans to move the vessel last November were delayed over US Coast Guard concerns about whether the ship was stable enough to make the trip.

Officials in Okaloosa County on Florida’s coastal Panhandle hope the ship will become a barnacle-encrusted standout among the county’s more than 500 artificial reefs and a signature diving attraction that could generate millions of dollars annually in local tourism spending for scuba shops, charter fishing boats and hotels.

Officials have said the deal to buy the ship could eventually cost more than $10 million.

The SS United States was once considered a beacon of American engineering, doubling as a military vessel that could carry thousands of troops. Its maiden voyage broke the trans-Atlantic speed record in both directions when it reached an average speed of 36 knots, or just over 41 mph (66 kph), The Associated Press reported from aboard the ship.

The ship crossed the Atlantic Ocean in three days, 10 hours and 40 minutes, besting the RMS Queen Mary’s time by 10 hours. To this day, the SS United States holds the trans-Atlantic speed record for an ocean liner.

The SS United States became a reserve ship in 1969 and later bounced between various private owners who hoped to redevelop it. They eventually found their plans too expensive or poorly timed, leaving the vessel looming for years on south Philadelphia’s Delaware River waterfront.