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MV Prestige

Bahamian oil tank

The MV Prestige under emergency tow shortly before it sank in November 2002.
File photo: Bahamas Maritime Authority · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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 (49,000 long tons; 55,000 short tons) of oil.

Design and construction

Prestige was a single-hulled oil tanker with a length overall of 243 metres (797 ft 3 in), a beam of 34.4 metres (112 ft 10 in), a hull depth of 18.7 metres (61 ft 4 in), and a draft of 14 metres (45 ft 11 in). It had a 42,820 gross tonnage (GT) and a total cargo capacity of 81,589 tons deadweight (DWT).

The ship was launched on 10 December 1975 and completed on 30 March 1976 by Hitachi Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. in Maizuru, Kyoto, Japan. At the time of its sinking, it was owned by Mare Shipping, and registered in the Bahamas.