20 years ago, the oil tanker “Prestige” sank off the coast of Galicia, in the northwest of Spain, with 77,000 tons of fuel oil on board. The beginning of one of the worst oil spills in the history of Europe.
Oil “everywhere”, “black” beaches and fishermen “forced to stop” … In Spain, the Prestige tragedy has created “a real shock”, still “omnipresent” in memories, tells AFP Alberto Blanco, former mayor of Muxia, a village in the front line of the disaster.
The Liberian tanker made a distress call on 13 November 2002 off the coast of this town of 4,000 inhabitants located to the west of A Coruña, after a breach several meters long appeared on its right side during a storm.
“The boat was in bad shape, with waves six to eight meters high,” says Blanco, who remembers rushing to shore as soon as the accident was announced to see the damage. The ship “was very close to the coast, the situation was serious”.
On November 14, the decision was made to evacuate almost the entire crew. The “Prestige”, a single-hulled vessel belonging to a Greek shipowning family domiciled in Liberia, but flying the flag of the Bahamas, began to spill a thick fuel oil into the ocean.
Thinking that the danger was over, the authorities decided to tow the ship out to sea, first to the northwest and then to the south, instead of bringing it closer to a port to contain the leak. A controversial choice as the storm continues.
After six days of drifting, the ship finally broke in two on November 19, 270 kilometers off the Spanish coast, and sank in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 3,500 meters, causing the worst oil spill in the history of the Iberian Peninsula.
Judicial Marathon
“The disaster was immense”, with damage “in Spain, but also in Portugal and France”, where countless patches of fuel oil were found, from the Aquitaine coastline to Brittany, recalls Sara del Río, head of research at Greenpeace Spain.
According to available estimates, 63,000 tons of fuel oil escaped into the ocean, soiling 2,900 kilometers of coastline. Nearly 200,000 seabirds have also perished, despite the intervention of tens of thousands of volunteers.
“The rocks were covered with oil, the beaches too. It was very difficult to clean them, because it was sticky and viscous, and the oil kept coming back with the tides. It gave a feeling of rage and powerlessness”, remembers Alberto Blanco, who evokes an “endless fight”.
This fight, after long months of cleaning, has taken a judicial turn. In 2016, after a long battle, Spanish justice sentenced the Greek captain of the tanker, who was under medical treatment at the time and at the head of an inexperienced crew, to two years in prison.
The Liberian owner and the British insurer of the ship were declared civilly liable and ordered to pay 1.5 billion euros in compensation, mostly to the Spanish state, while the French state received approximately 60 million euros.
A decision welcomed by the associations, which nevertheless regretted the absence of politicians in the dock, despite decisions deemed “disastrous” on the part of the right-wing government of José María Aznar and the regional authorities of Galicia.
“There were unwise choices, such as moving the ship away from a port instead of bringing it closer (…) The oil spill then spread until it became uncontrollable,” says Sara del Rio, for whom “all the lessons (of the disaster) have not been learned.
A ban on single-hull oil tankers off the EU coast, precise protocols in the event of a shipwreck, reinforced inspections: following the sinking of the “Prestige”, several important decisions have been taken to improve the safety of the transport of dangerous products.
But these measures have not completely eliminated the risk of a new oil spill.
“There is always the possibility that a disaster like the “Prestige” will be repeated. Firstly because there are still oil tankers in poor condition circulating, and secondly because more and more fossil fuels are being transported by ship,” said the Greenpeace official.
A look back at other disasters with disastrous health and environmental consequences that have affected European coasts.
1999: the “Erika
On December 12, 1999, the oil tanker “Erika”, chartered by Total, broke up and sank off the coast of Brittany (western France).
Approximately 20,000 tons of heavy fuel oil polluted the French coastline over a distance of about 400 kilometers, causing the death of 150,000 to 300,000 birds.
In September 2012, Total was found responsible for the sinking by the French courts. The local authorities and associations affected receive 200 million euros in compensation.
This trial led to the creation of the “ecological damage”, a principle now recognized by French jurisprudence and included in the civil code.
1996: the “Sea Empress
On February 15, 1996, the “Sea Empress”, a Liberian oil tanker, ran aground on rocks off the port of Milford Haven (Wales). The ship sank, releasing over 70,000 tons of oil. The oil spill caused an ecological disaster on the Welsh coast, causing the death of some 20,000 birds.
1992: the “Aegean Sea
On December 3, 1992, the “Aegean Sea”, loaded with 79,000 tons of crude oil, hit rocks near the port of A Coruña, in Galicia (north-western Spain), breaking in two and catching fire, causing an oil spill that polluted nearly 200 kilometers of coastline.
1991: The Haven
On April 11, 1991, the “Haven”, a Cypriot oil tanker, caught fire in the Gulf of Genoa (Italy) before sinking three days later. Successive fires destroy a large part of its cargo of
144,000 tons. The rest of the oil formed an oil slick that polluted the coasts of Liguria and Provence.
1978: the “Andros Patria
On December 31, 1978, a Greek tanker carrying 200,000 tons of oil from Iran to the Netherlands was caught in a storm. Her hull split off Cape Finisterre, northwest of Spain. The “Andros Patria” caught fire and about 50,000 tons of crude oil spilled into the sea near the coasts of Galicia and Asturias. Of the 37 sailors on board, 34 perished in the accident.
1978: the “Amoco Cadiz
On March 16, 1978, the “Amoco Cadiz”, an American supertanker, ran aground on the rocks of Portsall, in Brittany. This accident caused nearly 230,000 tonnes of crude oil to leak, soiling about 360 kilometers of the Breton coastline.
The consequences of this shipwreck, the worst that Europe has known in recent history, are dramatic for the marine fauna and flora. For three months, 35,000 soldiers and thousands of volunteers from all over the country, equipped with boots, shovels and buckets, relentlessly clean up rocks and dirty beaches.
Nearly a hundred elected officials are uniting to sue Standard Oil of Indiana, the world’s largest oil company and owner of the “Amoco Cadiz”, in the United States.
After fourteen years of struggle, the American company was found to be solely responsible and had to pay the equivalent of 35 million euros to the Breton municipalities and 160 million to the State.
1976: the “Urquiola
On May 12, 1976, the Spanish oil tanker “Urquiola” exploded at the entrance of the Spanish port of A Coruña and sank. More than 100,000 tons of crude oil escaped from its sides and spread along about 100 kilometers of coastline.
