om key Gulf shipping lanes, but officials cautioned conditions can change.
The spill had not seriously threatened the Mississippi-Alabama coast as of Friday, but it was onshore in parts of Louisiana, though it had not seriously marred the Mississippi River entrance as of Friday.
The practice cleaning of a vessel at Southwest Pass Friday was intended to streamline a system "almost like a carwash," said Captain Jason Bosley of the Associated Branch Pilots.
Sheen contamination can be hosed off in an hour or two, but dirtier ships might have to anchor at Pilottown or Boothville, Louisiana, and face delays up to two days
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Two cleaning boats were stationed at Southwest Pass, but more resources could be made available, and cleaning stations were being set up at other ports
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"This is not going to be voluntary. If a ship has oil on it, it is going to be cleaned," Bosley said, but he added "every effort is being made" to keep the process speedy.
One ship at Mobile and at least two others at the mouth of the Mississippi reported passing through the spill but were inspected and found not to be contaminated.
They may have benefited from the fact that the oil has been treated with dispersants, which are supposed to make the oil less sticky, Bosley said.
In Alabama
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"What we're trying to do is protect the environment
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(Additional reporting by Joshua Schneyer and Robert Gibbons in New York; Editing by John Picinich)
U.S.
Communist protesters occupied the finance ministry and Greece's main unions called a 3-hour work stoppage for Friday in mounting discontent at austerity measures designed to stem the country's debt crisis.
Greeks greeted news of 4.8 billion euros ($6.6 billion) in wage