Spain won support from Europe’s top court in its mutlimillion euros damage claim against The London Steam-Ship Owners Mutual Insurance Association 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 tones of foul-smelling black fuel along the Galicia coast and forced the closure of Spain’s richest fishing grounds.
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It also led to a lengthy dispute between The London Steam-Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Limited, 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 Limited 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 UK court to enforce the Spanish ruling and got its backing in 2019. The insurer appealed, prompting the UK High Court to seek guidance from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The CJEU took Madrid’s side.
According to Reuters, the judges said that:
The arbitration proceedings initiated in the United Kingdom cannot block the recognition of the Spanish judgment ordering the insurer to pay compensation for the damage caused by the oil spill
