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Oil tanker spain Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://europe.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/11/19/spain.oil/http://europe.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/11/19/spain.oil/
Disaster fears as tanker splits
LA CORUNA, Spain --One of the world's worst environmental disasters is feared to be under way as the crippled oil tanker Prestige begins to sink off Spain's north-west Atlantic coast.
The rear section of the Prestige has sunk off Spain's Atlantic coast, taking much of the oil in its tanks down with it, after earlier splitting in two, a spokesman for the Dutch salvage company Smit Salvage said.
Environmental group WWF has previously warned that if all the fuel oil leaked, it would be one of the largest oil leaks in the world -- about twice as big as the Exxon Valdez spill off Alaska in 1989.
The Bahamian-flagged tanker, carrying 70,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, ran into trouble off the northwest coast of Spain during a violent storm last Wednesday when one of its tanks was punctured due to unknown causes and around 5,000 tonnes of oil flowed out.
"The aft part of the ship has sunk. The front part is still floating but it will sink... A lot of oil went down with this aft part," Lars Walder told Reuters by telephone from Rotterdam.
He added that winds and current would now help determine how much oil would reach the Spanish coastline.
CNN's Al Goodman said the worst fears of government, environmentalists and fishermen had come to pass with a "very desperate" outcome, giving the governments of Spain and neighbouring Portugal a "major problem."
Goodman said on Tuesday the economic damage had already been estimated at 90 million euros.
An oil slick 70 miles long and five miles wide was reported even before the ship split in two, Goodman said.
Oil has already washed up along the coast and birds and other wildlife have been contaminated, he added.
CNN's Juliet Bremner reported from the scene that barrages that had been laid to try to contain the spill were considered to be useless because of the volume of fuel involved.
She described how an anguished local fisherman had crossed himself, pointed to the coastline and repeated: "A disaster, a disaster."
Dr Ian White, Managing Director of the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation said that heavy fuel oil was "one of the most difficult oils to deal with."
It was thick, heavy, persistent and sticky and would not be dispersed even by heavy seas, he said.
The tanker leaked fuel into the rich fishing grounds off Spain's northwest coast and the government warned that the oil spilled could seep into some of the many inlets that penetrate the Galicia coast like crooked fingers.
The ship is roughly on the border of areas for which Spain and Portugal have responsibility for maritime rescue operations, the ministry added.
Portugal and Spain had both barred salvagers from towing the ship to any of their ports to protect their fishing and tourism industries from further damage.
The shoreline is known as the "coast of death" because of many shipwrecks there.
Regional authorities have temporarily banned fishing in an area famous for its shellfish, octopus and crabs.
"We've had accidents before but nothing like this. If many fish die, will they ever come back?" Federico Martinez Vidal, a fisherman in the town of Camelle, told The Associated Press.
On Monday two Spanish tugboats had tried to pull the tanker as far away from the coast as possible. When it split it was listing about 130 kilometres (70 nautical miles) from the Galician coast.
The Spanish Government's decision to tow the Prestige further out to sea and set up barriers, coupled with a change in wind direction, had first raised hopes a disaster could be averted.
Spain says the vessel was bound for Gibraltar when the spill happened, a charge Britain denies.
Spain and the European Union have criticised Latvia, where the boat was loaded with much of its fuel, and Britain, which has jurisdiction over Gibraltar.
Both have accused Britain and Gibraltar of failing to comply with shipping safety regulations -- a charge they both deny.
The tanker's Greek captain was being held in custody after five hours of questioning by a judge in La Coruna on Sunday. (Full story)
Maritime authorities allege he failed to cooperate with rescue crews after issuing a distress call.
For hours as the Prestige drifted perilously close to shore, he refused to let tugboats secure cables to his stricken ship, officials said.
The tanker is owned by the Greek company Mare Shipping Incorporated.
Spain's north-west coast has suffered several tanker accidents in recent years, the worst in December 1992 when the Greek tanker Aegean Sea lost 21.5 million gallons of crude oil when it ran aground near La Coruna.
Dr White said the investigation into the ship's breaking up would be sure to look at whether it would have been avoided if the move to compulsory double-hulled tankers from single-hulled had gone ahead sooner.
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The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.
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