The MV Prestige was an oil tanker owned by a Greek company based in Athens and operating under a Bahamian flag, that on 19 November 2002 sank off the coast of Galicia, Spain. The sinking caused a major environmental disaster, polluting thousands of miles of coastline with 50,000 tonnes of oil.

Design and construction

Prestige was a single-hulled oil tanker with a length overall of 243 metres (797 ft), a beam of 34.4 metres (113 ft), a hull depth of 18.7 metres (61 ft), and a draft of 14 metres (46 ft). It had a 42,820 GT and a total cargo capacity of 81,589 tonnes deadweight (DWT).

The ship was launched on 10 December 1975 and completed on 30 March 1976 by Hitachi Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. in Maizuru, Kyoto, Japan. At the time of its sinking, it was owned by Mare Shipping, and registered in the Bahamas.

See also

• Prestige oil spill
• List of oil spills worldwide
• Plataforma Nunca Máis
• Aegean Sea: another oil tanker that sank off the Galician coast in 1992