The End of Oil

The Prestige was a Greek-operated, single-hulled oil tanker, officially registered in the Bahamas, but with a Liberian-registered single-purpose corporation as the owner.

On November 13th, 2002, while the Prestige was carrying a 77,033 metric tons cargo of two different grades of heavy fuel oil, one of its twelve tanks burst during a storm off Galicia, in northwestern Spain.

fearing that the vessel was about to sink the captain turned towards Spain hoping to make port before the vessel could sink, however, pressure from local authorities forced the captain to steer the embattled ship away from the coast and head northwest. Reportedly after pressure from the French government, the vessel was once again forced to change its course and head southwards into Portuguese waters in order to avoid endangering France's southern coast. Fearing for its own shore, the Portuguese authorities promptly ordered its navy to intercept the ailing vessel and prevent it from approaching further.With the French, Spanish and Portuguese governments refusing to allow the ship to dock in their ports, the integrity of the single hulled oil tanker was deteriorating quickly and soon the storm took its toll when it was reported that a 40-foot section of the starboard hull had broken off, releasing a substantial amount of oil.

At around 8:00 AM on November 19th, the ship split in half. It sank the same afternoon, releasing over 20 million gallons of oil into the sea.

After the sinking, the wreck continued leaking oil. It leaked approximately 125 tons of oil a day,

On November 29th American scientists Richard Bartha, Ronald Atlas and Michal Pirnick annouce that a new treatment for the oil spill, a new genetically enhanced microbe Dinocarrus hydrocarboniuos known by the media as 'Dino bac'

On December 12th 2002 'Dino bac' is spread on the heaviest section of the Prestige oil spill by a modified French plane.

Within 3 days the section of oil spill sprayed has began to disperse, the European Union allows the rest of the spill to be treated.

A week after treatment the entire oil spill had dispersed.

On the 22nd of December 2002 a submersible visiting the wreck of the Prestige notices that the oil leaking from the vessels hull has stopped, tests prove that there is no more oil onboard even though there should be several thousand tonnes still onboard.

By early January 2002 reports begin to