During stormy weather on Wednesday 13th November the Greek-owned Prestige suffered a 50 metre gash in the right side of the hull.

The single skinned vessel carrying some 77,000 tonnes of fuel oil began to leak from one of its tanks.
Salvage ships attempted to tow the Prestige away from the Spanish coast across the Galician bank and into deeper waters.
Tuesday 19th November the vessel split in two and sank about 170 miles west of Vigo, the cargo lost from the vessel is said to be in excess of 5,000 tonnes.

The remaining cargo on the vessel could still escape in the future and concern has been expressed as to the best method to deal with this oil. An inspection by the French submarine, Nautilie has reported no signs of any oil escaping from the sunken vessel on its first dive. Further dives however showed that the oil was still leaking from the tanks and the spill has now reached the French coast.

The oil spill response is operating both on and off the coastline of Spain with many Spanish fishermen using their boats to assist in the collection of floating oil. Weather and currents have pushed the spill onto many miles of coastline. Regional authorities confirmed some slicks had entered the fishery-rich Atlantic estuaries of Arosa, Vigo and Pontevedra, and had already tarred beaches on the island of Salvora, part of the Atlantic Island Natural Park which is home to great variety of protected fauna and flora. On Tuesday 4th December, oil washed ashore near the wetlands of the Complejo de Corrubedo nature reserve.

Details of the extent of the spill on the 30th November are available from ITOPF.

The cleanup operation at sea becomes more difficult as the oil fragments and becomes more viscous. Proving harder to locate and pump.

Statement by Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of the UNEP, about the loss of the vessel Prestige off the Spanish coast. 28th November 2002

Source: World IMS, UNEP-WCMC 2002 For an interactive version of this map click here.

Satellite Images
Images of the spilt oil are now being taken regularly by satellite.

Click on the image for a larger version

This image shows the oil slick with data from the Canadian RADARSAT satellite. Black areas indicate the location of the slick on November 18. Oil slicks are visible from RADARSAT because the oil smoothes the ocean surface. Radar waves bounce off the smooth surface and away from the satellite instrument. The surface of clean water is rough, so some of the radar waves are scattered back towards the instrument. Therefore, clean water appears bright. Source: RADARSAT International and Stormcenter Communications Earthobservatory Copyright: RADARSAT data © Canadian Space Agency/Agence spatiale canadienne 2002. Received by the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing. Processed and distributed by RADARSAT International.

Click on the image for a larger version

Envisat's ASAR image showing tanker, Prestige, and other vessels off the Spanish coast on the 17th November. Source: ESA Article Images

SMIT photos

	The connection of the towline put a halt to the vessel drifting towards the Spanish coast.
	The Prestige continues to leak as it is towed away from the Spanish coast.
Click on the image for a larger version	On Tuesday 19th November the vessel split in two.
Click on the image for a larger version	The sinking of the aft section came within hours of the stricken vessel splitting in two early Tuesday morning.

MARINE AREAS AND HABITATS AFFECTED BY THE SPILL.
The Galicia Bank, located 42° 67'N and 11° 74'W, is a very important feature for maintaining the marine biodiversity of the region. Around this sea mount there is a mixing of the vertical water column layers that produces a high degree of primary productivity in the region. This in turn means that it sustains many species of fish and other flora and fauna. Details of the species likely to be affected may be found in the OSPAR document - Region IV Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Coast available as a pdf from http://www.ospar.org/eng/doc/pdfs/R4C5.pdf.

MARINE HABITATS
Cold water corals (Lophelia spp.) are found in the region and are important habitats for fish communities. The area has a variety of sea bottom types. Galicia's inter-tidal zone is characterised by rocky outcrops. These habitats are integral parts of the marine ecosystem and are important as fish refugia, nursery and spawning grounds as well as supporting commercially important assemblages of crustaceans.

SPECIES
Fish: On the Galicia Bank there are over 86 species of fish including one species of ray (Raja batis) that has been suggested as threatened. The region has important stocks of many species including anchovy, sardine northern bonito, monkfish and scad.

Benthic macrofauna: There are a wide variety of crustaceans (mussels, barnacles, clams, cockles and oysters) sponges and brittle stars.

Sea birds: At present over 18 species are at risk.


IMPACTS ON MARINE FLORA AND FAUNA
The level of impact depends on the viscosity, toxicity and the amount of oil, also, the sensitivity of the organism and the length of exposure to the oil.

Fish: The spill will adversely affect spawning and nursery habitats and any eggs or larvae which is in contact with the oil. Commercially important species such as turbot will be affected.

Sea birds: Air-water interface users are most at risk. These currently include seagulls, cormorants and pelicans.

Invertebrates: The spill has already coated 130 kilometres of shoreline and has damaged the important Galician barnacle banks and has seriously affected fish farms' stocks of mussels, barnacles, clams, cockles, oysters and octopus.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS
Fishing is the most important sector in the region employing approximately 60% of the workforce. Galicia's mussel and clam beds are the biggest in Spain.

A 1994 census noted nearly 30,000 fishers accounting for 40 per cent of the total tonnage of Spain's overall fleet.

Fishing vessels aren't able to operate along the Galician coast at the moment and the bivalve fishers who work in the inter-tidal zone are asking the authorities to allow them to extract what ever they can before all of the stocks are affected. While they're unable to work, the Xunta de Galicia is paying affected fleet owners, crew members and shellfish gatherers €30 per day. The Association of Shellfish Gatherers has estimated losses of €90 million (FIS.COM).

Sensitive Areas

International Site

The incident has occurred close to an area designated as a Wetland of International Importance, under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention), specifically Complejo de Corrubedo 42º 33'N 9º 2'W.

The Ramsar Convention provides a framework for international co-operation on the conservation and wise use of wetland biomes. Wetlands are designated by the Contracting Parties (member countries) for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International Importance because they meet one or more of the Ramsar Criteria. The criteria are: Sites containing representative, rare or unique wetland types; Sites of international importance for conserving biological diversity.

Complejo de Corrubedo.
Galicia; 550 ha; 42º33'N 009º02'W. Natural Park, Wildlife Refuge. A major dune system with an enormous shifting dune. The site includes partially enclosed sandbar lagoons, and numerous streams form an extensive marshy area giving way to a belt of pine trees. The area provides an outstanding example of dune flora and is particularly notable for several endemic species and sub-species. The site supports salt-resistant vegetation and extensive reedbeds. Numerous reptiles, amphibians, and mammals are present, and the area is important for breeding, staging and wintering waterbirds. Human activities include tourism, agriculture, and rush harvesting. There are an information centre and bird observatory available to visitors. Ramsar site no. 598.
Complejo intermareal Umia-Grove
RAMSAR

BirdLife International recognise five important bird colonies in the region. Site sheets are available from the following links.
Islas Cíes, Ons Islands, Ria De Arosa (O Grove) estuary, Costa de la Muerte (North Coast), Ferrolterra - Valdovino coast
Source: BirdLife International

National Sites

Cabo Vilan - Nature Area of National Interest
Islas Sisargas - Nature Reserve
The Islands of Ons, Cies and Salvora which form the new National Maritime Atlantic Islands Park and are an important nesting and migration locations for birds in the region.


Proposed Site
WWF has proposed the Galicia Bank as an offshore Marine Protected Area to be designated under the OSPAR System of MPAs. A site briefing can be downloaded here - Galicia Bank

Sunday, 17 November: Oil was reported coming ashore on a 40 km stretch of coastline. The Spanish fishing ministry has imposed a ban on a 100 kilometre stretch from Cape Tourinan to Caion, about 20 kilometres south-west of the city La Coruna.

Tuesday, 19 November: Prestige splits in two (0700 GMT), and risks spilling its entire 77,000 tonnes of fuel oil.
Later in the day the stern section sank followed by the fore section (1515 GMT).

Thursday, 21 November: An estimated 295 km of Galician coastline has now been affected by the oil spill.

Monday, 2 December: The manned submarine Nautilie reports no signs of any oil escaping from the sunken vessel.

Facts

The 1976 built single-hulled Prestige, managed by Athens-based Universe Maritime was chartered by the Russian/Swiss oil trader Crown Resources to transport the cargo of 77,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil from Riga, Latvia to Singapore.

The Prestige was holed causing a 50 metre gash in the right side of the hull.

The ship is managed by Universe Maritime, Greece on behalf of the owners (Mare shipping, Liberia).

The location of the incident was believed to be at 42° 53'N 9° 53'W.

The tanker began to leak in gale-force winds, as attempts were made to tow the vessel away from the nearby port of Vigo.

All of the 27 crew have been airlifted away from the tanker by Spanish rescue services.

An estimated €42m of damage will occur from the Prestige spill according to Spain's environment minister, Jaume Matas.

The director of IOPC funds, Mans Jacobsson said that the ship owners insurance company, London Club will foot the initial compensation of €25m.

The initial compensation will go to public and local authorities including the coast guard and other cleanup agencies.

The IOPC Funds have been declared that a total of €178m will be available.

The European Commission has said it will provide 117.7 million Euros in aid to Spanish fishermen to help cover losses.

The sunken vessel continues to leak and the spill has reached the southern coast of France.


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