Back to Galicia oil spill article

GALICIA, Spain 20 November 2002 (From MSNBC) - A crippled tanker carrying more than 20 million gallons (around 67,000 tons) of oil split in half off the northwest coast of Spain on Tuesday (Nov. 19), threatening one of the worst environmental disasters in history. The rear section of the Prestige sunk early in the day, taking many of the oil tanks with it. Should the tanks leak, the resulting spill would be more than twice the size of that caused by the 1989 Exxon Valdez accident, warned the World Wildlife Federation. Trouble began last Wednesday, when the Bahamian-flagged vessel encountered a violent storm about 150 miles off Spain's Atlantic coast, causing an oil tank to puncture. The leak already had spilled at least 2 million gallons of oil. The tanker also had a 30- to 50-foot crack in the hull below the waterline which made it unable to proceed under its own power while salvagers sought a port to do repairs or transfer the oil to another vessel.

Most of the ship's crew was airlifted off the ship last week. The tanker's Greek captain was being held in custody after five hours of questioning by a judge in La Coruna on Sunday. According to maritime authorities, the captain failed to cooperate with rescue crews after issuing a distress call. 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 ship is roughly on the border of areas for which Spain and Portugal have responsibility for maritime rescue operations.

An oil slick 70 miles long and five miles wide in the rich fishery region was visible even before the rear of the tanker sank on Tuesday, threatening the coastline from Cape Finisterre to La Coruna. Damages were estimated at 90 million euros ($90 million) but were expected to spike following Tuesday's development. The accident has put around 1,000 fishermen temporarily out of work. Soldiers and volunteers rushed to dozens of beaches that were blanketed in thick sheets of oil to assess further damages.

Meanwhile, environmental experts removed more than 150 contaminated animals, primarily seabirds, for treatment. "We've seen many dead fish and birds and many others in agony when we rescue them," Ezequiel Navio, from the World Wildlife Fund, told MSNBC. The government warned that the oil spilled could continue to seep into some of the many inlets that penetrate the coastline. Despite the harrowing circumstances, officials are optimistic. While the Exxon Valdez spill occurred in an enclosed sound, the Prestige is in the open sea and officials hope that will help disperse any oil. Some of the oil tanks that sank on Tuesday also could remain intact and plunge the 11,800 feet to the sea floor, moderating the spill damage.

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain, 21 November 2002 (From AFP) - Spain was tracking an eight-kilometre long oil slick from the sunken tanker Prestige, with a local official saying a shift in wind direction has, for now, spared the northwest coastline from further damage. Neighboring Portugal also declared itself safe from further pollution from the sinking of the 42,000 tons Prestige.

The tanker, owned by a Liberian-registered company and flying a Bahamas flag of convenience, was still carrying some 67,000 tons of heavy fuel oil in its hold compartments when it split in two on Tuesday and dived down more than 3.5 kilometers to the depths of the ocean. The spill threatens the region's economic and environmental well-being, which is largely dependent on the sea for its livelihood.

Spain had on Wednesday warned that the eight-kilometre slick, propelled by strong southwesterly winds, was headed toward the Galician coast. But experts now predict the area is not immediately threatened, Arsenio Fernandez Mesa, a Galician government official, on Thursday told local radio said.

In Portugal, officials believe they have been spared, at least temporarily, from further pollution. The head of Portugal's northern maritime ministry said westerly winds were likely to keep the slick, currently more than 100 nautical miles (115 miles, 185 kilometers) off the coast, from reaching the shore during the next two days. Still, Portugal has established a crisis unit, under the direction of the defense ministry, to draw up an emergency plan in the event that its shores are polluted. Defense Minister Paulo Portas had said Wednesday that he could commit up to 550 soldiers to clean-up efforts. Floating barriers and pumps from across Portugal have been sent north towards Viana do Castelo, about 25 kilometers south of the border with Spain.

Madrid has estimated current damages from the spill at about 42 million euros on the environmentally fragile Galician coastline. Officials said about 6,000 tons of oil were released into the ocean when the Prestige broke in two on Tuesday, after it had spewed about 4,000 tons over the previous days.

FINISTERRE, Spain 22 November 2002 (From AP) - Spain has sent a submarine to see whether the sunken tanker Prestige is leaking more oil off the country's northwest coast. Deputy Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the sub has been sent to the tanker to see if any of the estimated 66,000 tonnes of fuel oil on board is seeping from the wreck.

Meanwhile, a salvage company said it would be possible to retrieve the oil despite being 3,600-metres (3 miles) under water on the sea bed.

The Dutch company Smit Salvage, which had tried to keep the tanker afloat during a six-day battle against strong winds and high waves, told The Associated Press the job would be possible but expensive and unlikely.

Jan Ter Haar, senior salvagemaster for the company, said: "It is feasible, yes, of course. The only thing is, who is going to pay for it?"

The company would use robotic submarines, pipes and cables to handle such an operation in depths not believed to have been worked in before.

Some experts have predicted the oil has congealed in waters so cold and under such intense pressure, but others fear the fuel may have seeped out as the wreck split in two and sank on Tuesday or as it crashed on the sea bed. Rusting tanks could also be a problem, weakening the structure.

Spain is already suffering from thousands of tonnes of oil rolling up in black tides onto its northwest coastline, depositing thick sludge, killing wildlife and threatening the lucrative fishing industry.

The government says 10,000 to 11,000 tonnes of viscous fuel oil seeped out before the Bahamas-registered Prestige went down about 130 miles from the coast, Reuters reported. Greenpeace said the size of the spill was double that.

Winds of up to 110 kilometres per hour (67 mph) and waves as high as five metres (17 feet) have helped to break up some of the slicks but also pushed some closer to shore, threatening more pollution. Four slicks have been detected offshore heading towards land.

The government has been under pressure for not doing enough to prevent the oil reaching shore, and for not having reacted quickly enough. Rajoy said the submarine was deployed to take a close look just in case.

Ter Haar, whose company raised the sunken Russian nuclear submarine Kursk from the Barents Sea, said he doubts anyone will actually want to recover the oil from the Prestige. Early concern over such disasters quickly blow over, he said. Also the Prestige is so far out at sea, and so deep, that it is easier to ignore. Sucking out the oil would be immensely challenging, he said, but it could be done. A robot would take three hours just to reach the site.

Chris Morris, general-secretary of the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association, a London-based not-for-profit organisation that helps governments prevent or cope with spills, told AP such an operation would be "a feat that would be a real technological advancement."

Ter Haar said Smit's robot submersibles are engineered to go down 825-1,000 feet but could be refitted to rendezvous with the Prestige. Once there, the robots would drill a hole in the top and bottom of the tanks to allow the oil out and sea water in. The oil would be so hard that crews would need to heat it with a three-foot electric rod to liquefy it, or pump down lighter oil or diesel through a pipe and mix it with the oil so it could be sucked back to the surface. The pipes might even be heated, he said.

Pumping oil out of a stricken ship is not new -- it was done with the tanker Erika off the French coast in 1999, but that was in only 100 metres of water.