By an OGJ correspondent
HOUSTON, Nov. 19 -- The Prestige single-hull oil tanker split in two and sank in 3,500 m of water Tuesday in the Atlantic Ocean 270 km off the Galicia coast of northwest Spain, in an area known as the "Coast of Death" for its history of shipwrecks.
Most of its cargo of 73,000 tonnes of fuel oil remained aboard the sunken vessel, although an estimated 5,000 tonnes of oil had spilled from the ship since one of its tanks was punctured Nov. 13 during a storm off the Spanish coast.
Some 4,000 tonnes of oil have already spread over the Galician coastline between Cape Finisterre and Seixo Branco, a major fishing zone. Spanish authorities have banned commercial fishing and shell gathering in that area as a result of the spill. The regional government of Galicia approved a plan Monday to pay 1,000 fishermen until they can go back to work.
Some specialists claim the heavy fuel oil could remain on the ocean bottom for some time before spreading toward the coastlines of Spain, Portugal, and France. According to the World Wildlife Fund, Galicia could face perhaps the worst tanker oil spill in history, twice the magnitude of the Exxon Valdez spill off Alaska in 1989.
A Dutch salvage firm earlier was overseeing efforts to save the Prestige and its cargo. Five tugs had it under tow in search of calmer waters to the south where its fuel oil cargo could be offloaded into another tanker but the vessel broke in two Tuesday morning and sank in early afternoon.
It is unclear what will happen now. Recovery of the fuel oil began on Monday with the help of France's decontamination vessel Ailette. Several European Union countries responded to Spain's call for equipment and vessels to handle the spill.
The cargo of fuel oil was reported bound for Singapore from Riga, Latvia, for Crown Resources AG, a consortium member of the Alpha Group based in Gibraltar. Neither Latvia nor Gibraltar is a member of the international body in charge of controlling merchant ships, officials said.
Greece denied earlier reports that the Prestige belonged to a Greek shipping company. Officials indicated the tanker belonged to Liberia-based Mare Shipping Inc. and was operated by Universal Marine Ltd, also a Liberian company with a bureau in Athens. The crew, all of whom were rescued, was primarily Filipino.