Prestige Oil Spill
The Prestige oil spill occurred off the coast of Galicia, Spain, in November 2002, when the 26-year-old, structurally defective oil tanker MV Prestige sank with 77,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil on board. On November 13, a tank blew up during a storm, and the French, Spanish, and Portuguese governments refused to let the ship land. On November 19, 2002, the ferry drowned around 210 kilometers off the coast of Galicia. It is anticipated that 60,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, or 67,000 m3 (17.8 million US gal), was spilled.
Thousands of kilometers of shoreline and over a thousand beaches along the Spanish, French, and Portuguese coasts were polluted, and the local fishing economy was severely harmed. The Prestige oil spill is the worst environmental calamity in both Spain and Portugal's history. Because of the higher water temperatures, the volume of oil released was greater than the Exxon Valdez catastrophe, and the toxicity was regarded higher.
The governments of Spain, Portugal, and France have all refused to let the crippled ship dock. After splitting in half, the ship spills 20 million gallons of oil into the water. The overall cost of cleanup is estimated to be around $ 12 billion, according to a report by the Council of Pontevedra Economist.
Total loss: $12 billion
