Prestige Captain Convicted of Recklessness

Spain's Supreme Court sentenced the captain of the Prestige oil tanker, which sank off Spain's northwestern coast in 2002, to two years in prison on Tuesday.

The captain, Apostolos 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.

In Tuesday's ruling, Mangouras was accused of guiding the tanker in treacherous conditions with full knowledge of its weakened structure while the ship was overloaded by at least 2,000 tons of fuel oil.

The court also found the London P&I Club and shipowner Mare Shipping liable for the disaster.

Spain's State Prosecutor Luis Navajas, who asked the Supreme Court to overturn the earlier acquittal, said evidence had been overlooked including notes from the Prestige's former captain, Stratos Kostazos, who had complained about the tanker’s condition and had refused to sail on it.

The Supreme Court noted that two major energy companies, Repsol and BP, had advised against using the tanker. 

The Galician regional court had previously concluded it was impossible to establish criminal responsibility and that the disaster was partly due to the 26-year-old tanker's poor state of repair.

The sinking of the Greek tanker, which was sailing to Gibraltar, released an estimated 63,000 tons of fuel along thousands of kilometers of Galicia coastline and forced the closure of the country's richest fishing grounds.

After a storm damaged one of its fuel tanks, the ship had spent days drifting at sea having been refused permission to dock by Spanish, Portuguese and French authorities. It eventually split into two and sank about 250 miles off the coast, spurting oil into the water from the sea bed.

The new ruling opens the door to damage claims against the captain and the insurer, with one prosecutor calling for more than four billion euros ($4.3 billion).

Greenpeace has stated that Mangouras is being made a scapegoat while other key players in the disaster are not facing trial including current incumbent Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who was deputy prime minister at the time. According to reports, the government had ordered the Prestige out to sea away from the Spanish coast instead of following an emergency plan that called for it to be brought to port where the leaking oil could be confined.

The environmental organization also points out that BP has paid over $20 billion to settle damages claims as a result of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, so the much lower figure anticipated in this case is “ridiculous.”