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.
Prestige
