November 13, 2002, was a day many Spaniards will never forget. That stormy afternoon, off the North West coast of Spain, there was a mayday call from a captain of an oil tanker called The Prestige. Captain Apostolos Mangouras called for help advising the Spanish rescue workers the ships engine were not functioning correctly with expectation that the vessel would be brought to harbor. That would not be the case. This historic event began in Russia where the vessel was loaded with 77 tons of heavy crude oil #4, one of the most toxic crude oils in the world, in the port of St. Petersburg. On October 30th, 2002 not knowing its final destination, the vessel departed the port without a guaranteed buyer. At 26 years old, the rusted oil tankers single…show more content… Pressure from local authorities demanded the captain to sail away from Spain, Portugal and France. Hours later, they changed its course to sail towards the coast line. After 6 crucial days out at sea, the ship split in two. It sank that day releasing more than 20 million gallons of oil into the sea causing it to be one of the worst recorded oil spills in recent history. Throughout the months past the wreckage, thousands of volunteers around the world united to help clean up the affected coastline. The spill destroyed the rich fishing grounds to some of the best fisherman in the world. This demolished the economy and labor for most of the region. The most affected environmental damage was caused in Galicia. The local citizens from Galicia founded the environmental movement called Nunca Mais, Never again. Experts predict that the surrounding areas would be polluted for more than 15 years. Millions of living species were killed or harmed. This caused a huge dilemma between 3 different counties wanting to know what caused the wreck. The owners of the Prestige, were a well-known Greek shipping family. The Coulouthros family were able to disguise their ownership by creating a company in