The Prestige in Courts

• Author: Miguel Michinel
• Position: University of Vigo (Spain)
• Pages: 171-177

(2007) 21 A & NZ Mar LJ 171

THE PRESTIGE IN THE COURTS

Pro f. Dr. Migue l Michine l *

1 Fa cts a nd Court Proc eeding s

On 16 March 1978 the Amoco-Cadiz sank off the coastline of northwest France, spilling 230,000 tons of oil

and causing one of the biggest environmental disasters up to that time. The European Council, pushed by

public opinion, requested proposals from the European Commission dealing with control and reduction of oil

pollution. But despite an initial common resolve in the face of the disaster, the Member States backed away

from taking effective measures on a European scale, which was much more difficult at that time because of

the need for unanimity. It was necessary to wait until the nineties for the Council to adopt, by a qualified

majority, the four main elements of an authentic European common maritime safety policy: Council

Directive 95/21/EC1; Council Directive 94/57/EC2; Council Directive 93/75/EEC3 and Council Regulation

(EC) No 2978/944. In spite of all these rules, on 12 December 1999 off the coast of Brittany in northwest

France, the Erika sank and spilled more than 10,000 tonnes of its cargo. The Commission therefore proposed

new measures intended to change the basis of the oil maritime transport trade in Europe. These measures

were adopted on 21 March and 6 December 2000 and are known as the Erika I and II packages respectively.5

However, all these rules could not prevent what happened in the third week of November 2002 near the coast

of Galicia in northwest Spain. A 26 year old, 42,820 gross tonnes oil tanker, ironically called Prestige, was at

that time 30 miles off Cape Finisterre (Galicia, Spain) in the course of a voyage from Ventspils (Latvia) to

Singapore. The vessel was Liberian, registered in the Bahamas, managed in Greece and chartered by a

company in Switzerland on behalf of a Russian oil trader, and she had docked during the preceding five years

* University of Vigo (Spain).

1 Of 19 June 1995, concerning the enforcement, in respect of shipping using Community ports and sailing in waters under the

jurisdiction of the Member States, of international standards for ship safety, pollution prevention and shipboard living and working

conditions (Port State control) OJ L 157, 7 July 1995, Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 1999/97/EC, OJ L 331,

23 December 1999. It established a system of Port State control of shipping in the European Community based on uniform

inspection and detention procedures.

2 Of 22 November 1994, on common rules and standards for ship inspection and survey organisations and for the relevant activities

of maritime administrations, OJ L 319, 12 December 1994, Directive as amended by Commission Directive 97/58/EC, OJ L 274,

7.10.1997, p. 8. It established a system of Community-wide recognition of organisations that, in compliance with the international

conventions, may be authorised to various extents to inspect ships and issue the relevant safety certificates on behalf of Member

Status.

3 Of 13 September 1993, concerning minimum requirements for vessels bound for or leaving Community ports and carrying

dangerous or polluting goods OJ L 247, 5 October 1993, Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 98/74/EC, OJ L 276,

13.10.1998, p. 7. It introduced a system whereby the competent authorities receive information regarding ships bound for or leaving

a Community port and carrying dangerous or polluting goods, and regarding incidents at sea. That Directive required the

Commission to produce new proposals for the introduction of a fuller reporting system for the Community, possibly covering ships

transiting along the coasts of Member Status.

4 Of 21 November 1994, on the implementation of IMO Resolution A.747(18) on the application of tonnage measurement of ballast

spaces in segregated ballast oil tankers, OJ L 319, 12 December 1994.

5 The Erika I and II packages deal with five main issues: (a) ship inspection and survey organisations: on 19 December 2001

Directive 2001/105/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council was adopted amending Council Directive 94/57/EC (OJ L

19, 22 of January 2002), as since the adoption of Directive 94/57/EC some developments had occurred in the relevant legislation at

Community and international level requiring that further amendments be made. (b) control of ships into Community ports:

Directive 2001/106/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2001 amended the Council Directive

95/21/EC, considering that some ships posed a manifest risk to maritime safety and the marine environment because of their poor

condition, flag and history and they should therefore be refused access to Community ports, some guidelines must be established

setting out the applicable procedures (OJ L 19, 22 of January 2002). (c) phasing out the single hull tankers: Regulation (EC)No

417/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 February 2002 on the accelerated phasing-in of double hull or

equivalent design requirements for single hull oil tankers repealed Council Regulation (EC) No2978/94, to establish an accelerated

phasing-in scheme for the application of the double hull or equivalent design requirements of the MARPOL 73/78 Convention to

single hull oil tankers (OJ L 64, 7 of March 2002). (d) a community vessel traffic monitoring and information system: Directive

2002/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2002 establishing a Community vessel traffic monitoring and

information system repealed Council Directive 93/75/EEC, with a view to enhancing the safety and efficiency of maritime traffic,

improving the response of authorities to incidents, accidents or potentially dangerous situations at sea, including search and rescue

operations, and contributing to a better prevention and detection of pollution by ships (OJ L 208, 5 of August 2002). (e)

establishment of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the Committee on Safe Seas and the Prevention of Pollution

from Ships (COSS): Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002 of 27 June 2002 established the European Maritime Safety Agency and

Regulation (EC) No 2099/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council established the Committee on Safe Seas and the

Prevention of Pollution from Ships (COSS) and also amended the Regulations on maritime safety and the prevention of pollution

from ships (OJ L 208, 5 August 2002 and OJ L 324, 29 November 2002 respectively).