Spain’s Supreme Court has ordered that the captain and insurer of the Prestige oil tanker pay more than €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) in compensation for the 2002 environmental disaster, which to this day stands as the worst to hit the country.
(AP Photo/Carmelo Alen)
This has confirmed an earlier ruling handed down in November 2017 by a lower court in the northwestern city of La Coruna.
France, which was also affected, was awarded €61 million ($69 million).
The oil tanker Prestige sank off northern Spain in 2002, splitting up after being kept out at sea for six days following its first call for help.
It spilled 50,000 tonnes of oil, polluting thousands of miles of coast and causing huge damage to wildlife and the environment, as well as the region’s fishing industry.
The amount of oil spilled was more than the Exxon Valdez incident and the toxicity considered higher, because of the higher water temperatures.
The court said in a statement Thursday that captain Apostolos Mangouras and The London Owners Mutual Insurance Association shall pay the damages to Spain, France and authorities in Spain’s Galicia region, as well as to another 269 companies, communities and individuals affected by the spill.
Years of legal challenges have reportedly slowed the compensation process.
