Recent developments in the Prestige Incident

The January 2016 Supreme Court judgment relating to the Prestige incident is now available in English, French and Spanish under the Incidents section.
The judgment overturned the November 2013 judgment by the Criminal Court in La Coruña, sentencing the master of the ship to two years in prison and finding that the shipowner’s insurer, the London Club, was liable and could not limit its liability for the damages caused as a result of the spill. Instead the judgment asserted that the London Club had civil liability up to the limit of its insurance policy of US$ 1 000 million. The judgment confirmed that the 1992 Fund was also liable for damages resulting from the spill in accordance with the 1992 Fund Convention.
Further details of the judgment and its possible impacts will be discussed at the April 2016 session of the 1992 Fund Executive Committee. A document on the subject for the Committee’s consideration will be published on the Document Services section of the website by the Secretariat in due course.