Insurer must pay Spanish claim in Galicia oil spill: EU court
(Reuters) — Spain on Monday won backing from Europe’s top court in its multimillion euros damage claim against The London Steam-Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Ltd. for a massive oil spill on its northwestern coast two decades ago.
The 2002 sinking of the Greek oil tanker Prestige, which was sailing to Gibraltar, released an estimated 63,000 tons of foul-smelling black fuel along the Galicia coast and forced the closure of Spain's richest fishing grounds.
It led to a lengthy dispute between The London Steam-Ship Owners' Mutual Insurance Association, the insurer of the vessel, and Spain.
The latter took its case to a Spanish court, which subsequently ordered the insurer to pay compensation, capped at $1 billon, for the damage.
The London Steam-Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association in turn initiated arbitration proceedings in London, which resulted in a ruling that Spain could only seek damages claims through arbitration in London under English law.
Spain then asked a U.K. court to enforce the Spanish ruling and got its backing in 2019. The insurer appealed, prompting the U.K. High Court to seek guidance from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union. The CJEU took Madrid's side.
