Recent developments in the Prestige incident – November 2017 Judgment

The Court in La Coruña (Audiencia Provincial) has delivered a judgment on the quantification of the losses resulting from the Prestige incident. It confirms that the 1992 Fund is liable for damages resulting from the spill in accordance with the 1992 Fund Convention.
The Court has recognised moral and environmental damages and has awarded over €1.6 billion in compensation. This amount includes €1.57 billion payable to the Spanish Government, €61 million to the French Government as well as various amounts to individual claimants. The 1992 Fund is examining the judgment, which will be discussed at the April 2018 session of the 1992 Fund Executive Committee.
This latest judgment follows the January 2016 Supreme Court judgment which established that the shipowner’s insurer, the London P&I Club, was liable for the damages to the environment as a result of the incident and could not limit its liability for the damages caused as a result of the spill under the 1992 CLC. Instead the judgment asserted that the London P&I Club had civil liability up to the limit of its insurance policy of US$1 000 million.
Both judgments are available under the Incidents section of the website.