International Charter "Space and Major Disasters" - Prestige Oil Spill, Galicia (Spain)

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Prestige Oil Spill, Galicia (Spain)

Type of Event:	Oil Spill
Location of Event:	Galicia, Spain
Date of Charter Activation:	November 14, 2002
Charter Requestor:	European Commission, Civil Protection Unit
Project Management:	CNES

Description of Event

The Charter was activated on November 14, 2002 by the General Directorate for Environment of the European Commission (an authorized user) for the oil spill pollution produced by the tanker Prestige in front of the Galicia (Spain) coast occurred at the end of November 2002.

The Prestige tanker started leaking fuel off coast of Galicia, Spain on Thursday November 14, 2002 when it encountered a violent storm about 150 miles off Spain’s Atlantic coast. During several days, it was pulled far from the shore, but the crippled tanker carrying more than 67000 tons of oil split in half off the northwest coast of Spain on Tuesday (Nov. 19), threatening one of the worst environmental disasters in history. The rear section of the Prestige sunk early in the day, taking many of the oil tanks with it. The leak already had spilled at least 7000 tons of oil.

Image Products Delivered Under the Charter


Galicia, November 14, 2003 Click for larger image (198 KB) General view of the area	Galicia, November 17, 2003 Click for larger image (319 KB) Source: Envisat ASAR Copyright: ESA 2003

Galicia, November 18, 2002 Click for larger image (433 KB) Source: Radarsat S3 Copyright: CNES 2002	Galicia, November 23, 2002 Click for larger image (259 KB) Source: ERS-2 Copyright: ESA 2002

Galicia, November 26, 2002 Click for larger image (248 KB) Source: ERS-2 Copyright: ESA 2002	Galicia, December 02, 2002 Click for larger image (260 KB) Source: ERS-2 SAR Copyright: ESA 2002

Galicia, November 17, 25, 2002 Click for larger image (265 KB) Source: Envisat & Radarsat Copyright: ESA & CNES 2002	Galicia, December 02, 2002 Click for larger image (179 KB) Source: ERS-2 Copyright: ESA 2002

Galicia, December 03, 2002 Click for larger image (191 KB) Source: ERS-2 Copyright: ESA 2002