The Bahamian registered
"Prestige" was damaged last Wednesday and spilled about 10 percent of its 77,000 metric tonnes of fuel oil before breaking apart and sinking.

Lisbon sent a navy frigate to the area - which lies within Portugal's zone of search and rescue - to monitor the situation and air force reconnaissance aircraft are constantly flying over the zone.

The Defence Ministry also announced it had sent anti-pollution equipment to northern Portugal in the event of the country’s beaches being affected.

Lisbon’s Defence Minister, Paulo Portas, misquoted and given the wrong name by two of Europe’s most respected news agencies, said that both Portugal and Spain were "interested in working in the European framework to find a solution to limit ecological damage".

While Spain has promised to make whoever is responsible "pay", the Dutch company called in to save the ship, Smit Salvage, criticised Spain for moving the ship from its coast, saying, "the five days of towing into heavy seas definitely did not improve the structural damage that had already been caused to the Prestige".

Article republished courtesy of The Portugal News:
http://the-news.net

Please also see the Greenpeace call to the International Maritime Organisation: http://act.greenpeace.org/ams/e?a=imo1&s=fsh