EuropeFinance and InsuranceOperationsTankers
Prestige ruling leaves London P&I Club open to claims of up to €4bn
Yesterday Spain’s Supreme Court sentenced Apostolos Mangouras, the captain of the Prestige tanker, which sank off Spain’s northwestern coast in 2002, to two years in prison on Tuesday in a ruling that could have very damaging ramifications for a UK-based insurer.
Mangouras was convicted of recklessness resulting in catastrophic environmental damage, according to a statement by the court, overturning a previous sentence which cleared him of criminal responsibility.
The Prestige sinking saw roughly 63,000 tonnes of bunker fuel wash up along the Galicia coast.
The new ruling could see damage claims against the captain and the insurer, the London P&I Club, with one prosecutor calling for more than EUR4bn.
This ruling is an utter travesty of justice and Captain Mangouras, whose life has already been made hell, is again the innocent victim.
Had the Spanish authorities not denied the ship a place of refuge the spill would either have been avoided completely or contained with the prospect of only minimal sacrificial damage.
Let’s hope that all those who stood together in protest over the previous treatment of this man stand up to be counted again.
Peter M Swift
Former Managing Director, INTERTANKO
Peter pretty much said it all. The coastal state ordering a stricken ship into a storm must be an incontrovertible and key contributing factor.