Authorities in Cyprus and Turkey are closely monitoring the slick that originated from an oil spill in a thermal station in Syria last week, as the leaked fuel spreads across the Mediterranean and dangerously approaches Cyprus's northern coastline.

The oil spill at the Baniyas power plant in Damascus, which is estimated to be 20,000 tons of fuel, was first reported by Syrian officials on August 23 and declared an (unspecified) accident.

Since then, the slick has been floating across the Mediterranean Sea, until on Wednesday the winds seemed to direct it towards Cyprus's northeastern tip, an area that falls under jurisdiction of both the Greek Cypriot government and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized by Ankara.

Both countries have moved to try to contain the spillage, with Turkey sending ships to harness and collect the fuel and Cyprus deploying an anti-pollution vessel made available by the European Union.

In a lucky turn of events, shifting winds on Wednesday changed the direction the oil spill was following and pushed it away from the coast.

"The weather conditions continue to be in our favor," said Cyprus's Tourism and Environment Undersecretary Serhan Aktunc.

But the threat of pollution remains high, with top officials recommending beachgoers be cautious and warning that some of the oil could still reach the coast of the Karpaz peninsula by Friday.

The risk is even higher to the local marine life, as part of the oil solidifies and sinks to the bottom of the Mediterranean, thwarting attempts to collect it.