Prestige oil spill causing great harm to the local fishing industry. The spill is the largest environmental disaster in the history of both Spain and Portugal. The amount of oil spilled was more than the "Exxon Valdez" incident and the toxicity considered higher, because of the higher water temperatures. In 2007 the Southern District of New York dismissed a 2003 lawsuit by the Kingdom of Spain against the American Bureau of Shipping, the international classification society which had certified the "Prestige" as in compliance with rules and laws, because ABS was a "person" per the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution
Prestige oil spill claim against ABS was some $700 million. The Galicia regional High Court set the "Prestige" oil spill trial date for October 16, 2012, against officers, the insurer London Club, International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, the ship's owner, Liberia-based Mare Shipping Inc with its director general. The harbor master of A Coruña at the time, Ángel del Real, and a Galician government delegate, Arsenio Fernández de Mesa, had also been charged with "aggravating the disaster by ignoring technical advice". the hearing began on 16 June 2012 and expected to adjourn in November, the tenth anniversary of the disaster.