Sinking of MV Prestige

Date: November 19, 2002 • Location: Fisterra, Spain

The Greek oil tanker Prestige split in two and sank off the coast of Galicia after spilling 420 thousand barrels (17.8 million US gallons) of oil, in the worst environmental disaster in Spanish and Portuguese history.

MV Prestige was an oil tanker owned by a Greek company based in Athens and operating under a Bahamian flag of convenience, that on 19 November 2002 sank off the coast of Galicia, Spain. The sinking caused a major environmental disaster, polluting thousands of miles of coastline with 50,000 metric tons of oil.