Eleven years after laden tanker Prestige broke up and sank off the Spanish coast, spilling some 50,000 metric tons of oil in November 20012, the Master of the Prestige, Captain Mangouras, and the vessel’s Chief Engineer Nikolaos Argyropoulos, have been acquitted by the Spanish Courts of criminal damage to the environment.
Also acquitted was José Luis López Sors González, the former head of Spain’s merchant marine department, which means that the Spanish state will not be held responsible for the disaster. The courts failed to find anyone guilty of directly causing the tragedy.
Intertanko said it is deeply disappointed that Captain Mangouras was convicted as criminally responsible for serious disobedience to the Spanish authorities during the incident, and that he has been sentenced to nine months in prison – a sentence that he is unlikely to serve because of his age. He was held for two years (85 days of which in a high-security prison) prior to any formal enquiry, until the vessel’s P&I Club put up Euros3m as bail, the company said.
His actions have been described as “exemplary” by the vessel’s flag state, and yet he has been treated as a criminal, Intertako pointed out. Confronted with refusal by the Spanish authorities to give the damaged ship refuge, Capt. Mangouras had done everything possible to protect crew, ship and cargo and to protect the environment by minimizing pollution – including remaining on board with Argyropoulos after the rest of the crew had been evacuated to try and save the ship.
However, against his judgment he was forced by the Spanish authorities to take a series of actions that resulted in the damaged tanker being taken out to sea in appalling conditions.
Intertanko said it considers the conviction and sentencing of Captain Mangouras as lamentable, inexcusable and fundamentally wrong, setting a precedent for the treatment as criminals of ships' masters who try to do their best for seafarers, ship and environment when under extreme adverse circumstances.