Tanker Oils Atlantic on Spain's Coast of Death

MADRID, Spain, November 14, 2002 (ENS) - An oil tanker carrying a cargo of some 77,000 metric tons of fuel oil is in trouble off an environmentally sensitive section of the Spanish coast, and it has spilled an undetermined amount of oil into the sea.

Flying the Bahamian flag, the Greek operated tanker Prestige was on its way from Latvia to Gibraltar last night when it hit rough seas and gale force winds about 50 kilometers (30 miles) off the province of Galicia in northwestern Spain.

The damaged tanker is situated along a portion of the Galician coast known as Costa da Morte, the Coast of Death.

Costa da Morte(Photo courtesy Costa de Morte Nature)

Spanish radio has reported a 32 kilometer (20 mile) long slick around the damaged tanker.

Salvage experts will attempt to board the Prestige at daybreak to determine how much oil has been spilled and how much remains on board.

At the request of its associate member, the Spanish Coast Guard Agency, the international oil spill response organization Oil Spill Response Ltd. has sent an oil spill expert to the scene of the Prestige spill.

From its headquarters in Southampton, England, Oil Spill Response spokesman Cam Pulham told ENS the expert attending the Prestige site has 13 years experience in dealing with tanker spills, including big spills such as the Exxon Valdez.

Cape Fisterra, the westernmost point of Europe, is named from the Latin word "finisterrae," the end of the world. (Photo courtesy Miguel Angel Alonso Pardo)

Pulham says that to his knowledge the oil slick is located "about three or four miles offshore" and has not yet touched land.

Dr. Raul Garcia, of WWF-Spain's marine program, says that more than 60 percent of the people in this area depend on fishing for their livelihood. "If this oil does leak out into the sea," he said, "it will devastate marine life, and consequently have a tremendous impact on the people in the region - which is why we are working with the Spanish government to see what mitigation measures we can help to put in place."

The Galician coastline is one of Europe's most scenic areas, and is rich in marine species including fish, shellfish, bottle nosed dolphins and harbor porpoises. It is an important stop over for migratory birds traveling to their wintering grounds, says WWF-Spain.

The largest colony of European shag cormorants Phalacrocorax aristotelis on the Costa da Morte inhabits the cliffs of Cape Fisterra (Photo courtesy Costa da Morte Nature)

In Spain, WWF has been demanding that prohibition of oil ships without double hulls in Spanish waters, and fulfillment of the European regulations on the part of all the ships that operate in EU waters and ports, independent of their nationality.

Because more than 300 ships have sunk off the Galician coast in the past 100 years, WWF is lobbying the Spanish government to declare Galician waters a zone of special protection where the transit of ships with dangerous loads is prohibited near the coast.