“The captain should have apologized to the Galicians for having brought the tanker to Galicia to die,” says José Luis López-Sors, former general director of the Merchant Navy and responsible for moving the tanker away
Behind the disaster of Prestige, three people sat in front of the judge as defendants: the ship’s captain, Apostolos Mangouras; the chief engineer, Nikolaos Argyropoulos; and the general director of the Merchant Navy, José Luis López-Sors González (Ferrol, 1941), the only public official incriminated, specifically for a crime against the environment. The Galician naval engineer and civil servant was the one who made the controversial decision to move the ship away from our shores. Finally, after more than 10 years of his life ruined, as he himself admits, he was acquitted, being the first time that the Spanish State was exempted from all civil or criminal responsibility for the accident of an oil tanker in his domain. Now, two decades after the tragedy, his figure remains at the center of all debate. Even his loved ones have urged him to remember that fateful time: “My kids sometimes ask me, and I tell them I did what I had to do.”, sentence. Currently, the ferrolano is dedicated to collecting information on “many maritime accidents & rdquor; and he is waiting for this twentieth anniversary to conclude to finish a book on the catastrophe itself.
What is the most surprising thing in that work? I am surprised that the ecological damage produced in the Prestige was less than in the Aegean Sea, which sank on the coast itself, according to the Cedex technicians (Center for Studies and Experimentation of Public Works).
By moving the ship away, did you follow a certain “Spanish policy”, according to what has been said, which required such a resolution in the presence of any ship with damaged polluting cargo near our coasts? That is not true, each case is studied. The protocol, which stems from a drill held in 2001 in A Coruña, indicated that an oil tanker that loses cargo cannot be taken to any port, but it is only a point of reference. First, we asked a technician who had been working on transfers in the US and he replied in writing that it could not be done in the case of the Prestige because we had very high wave heights. Besides, it was a complex operation. The second alternative was precisely to put the ship in a port. The head of the Dutch rescue company Smit Salvage, hired by the ship owner, wanted to take it to Vigo, but we told him that we were not going to allow it in any way due to the wealth of the Rías Baixas and the Atlantic Islands National Park. We didn’t even want to imagine the faces of the people from Vigo if they saw another oil tanker like the Polycommander appear there. In the north, then, the only feasible port was A Coruña, but it was ruled out by the major pilot. In addition, there was an ordinance that prohibited putting an oil tanker without a government, such as the Prestige, or with a draft greater than a few certain meters.
“Yes, I was surprised to find out that Mangouras is still alive, I thought he had died. I haven’t had much interest in knowing if he was alive or not either”
Who were responsible for the catastrophe? The shipowner, the inspection company –American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)– and the captain, who was the most responsible. When we offered to tow Mangouras, he refused and what he did was transfer the request to the Greek company, which later accepted, but it was he who should have gotten wet. Regarding ABS, the lawsuit in the US did not prove us right [al Estado español] Because it’s practically impossible for a New York court to blame the national company in these cases, but it provided us with a lot of documentation that the General Counsel would not have been able to get. They blamed us for having spent more than 30 million in that process, but all that information served to instruct Corcubión and to improve our defense… In the end, they did not condemn us. If they had sentenced me, the entire State would have had to pay for it.
It surprised him find out that Mangouras is still alive?Yes, I was surprised, I thought he had died. Nor have I had much interest in knowing if he was alive or not. He was his years old and, in addition, he suffered from heart disease, he was taking Sintrom! He should have been careful, not surfing around & mldr; I don’t know how he got out of everything that happened. Now, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary, a campaign is being made to claim that it was not his fault, but he has the grace of him because he knew what state the ship was in when it left St. Petersburg, so he’s pretty guilty. Besides, he didn’t tell us the truth. On November 13 at 4:00 p.m., he called Greece, his bosses, and told them that a bulkhead had fallen, but he did not tell us until 10:00 p.m. Then he made a bad decision to balance the ship, subjected the structure to an effort for which it was not prepared and the tanker ended up breaking everywhere.
Did you also hear your criticism of the Spanish authorities and his complaint for not having been able to defend himself? Yes, it really caught my attention that he said that he was not allowed to speak. In Barcelona, he gave a conference in which he blamed the incident on a giant wave, on a submarine that came up against his ship and broke it, on wooden logs or containers that had fallen from another ship. Little else he could say. And what’s more, at the end of the trial, the judge gave him the floor. It was there when he asked the Galicians for forgiveness. But what he should have done was really apologize for having brought the tanker to die Galicia. I insist that if the Prestige was not sailing, he was responsible, and he had the classification society inspectors on the ship every day. Also, starting winter, get into Finisterre…
Did anyone from the PP government at that time thank you for having defended Spain, as you have always proclaimed, after appearing as the only public official charged? They didn’t have to give them to me, but in the government they are like that… (laughs). You do things because you have to do them, it goes with your salary. Also, I love Spain and Galicia, so I did it with a thousand loves and sacrificed everything that was necessary and more. Besides, everything that happened hurt me and the Government tried to help and reward the people who made an effort collecting the tar. It is also true that the State did not have people to carry out these cleanups.
How did you feel when Nunca Máis asked for five years in prison for you? Deep down, I could have signed up for Nunca Máis because I would like it to never happen again that a breaking ship reached the Galician coast. They wanted the administration to fix a ballot without means and with everything in precarious condition. What we had to do from the General Directorate of the Merchant Marine we did. Are you going to blame those of us who had to work there? Some risked their lives, like good old Serafín Díaz, the ship inspection assistant who came down to the ship from the helicopter, even though he was older than me. Also, Smit Salvage didn’t comply, because he showed up 24 hours later and no tackle, it was outrageous.
“I love Spain and Galicia, so I did it with a thousand loves and sacrificed everything that was necessary and more”
In the end, he was charged. Yes, and I had two options: go to trial or not go. My conviction at that time was that if I didn’t go, they could fine me, but they weren’t going to take me to jail. If it is that I was even retired when the trial was! I decided to go because I had to defend Spain and defend my management, which had been positive, no matter how many bad times people had gone through, although I was not the culprit. What happens is that in these trials it is a question of always looking for an official who can share the blame. The same thing happened with the Aegean Sea: for the lawsuit, they also found a state official to blame, in addition to the ship’s captain. Well, in the Prestige, it was me. The accusation of the Nunca Máis was directed at three people: the Government delegate in Galicia, Arsenio Fernández de Mesa; the maritime captain of A Coruña, Ángel del Real; and me. That is, those of us who came out to face the press. They wanted us to blame each other and for someone to fall. Although I was not the one with the highest rank, I was the one with the most knowledge, which is why I finally accepted to sit in front of the judge. How did you live the years that elapsed since you were accused until you learned your acquittal? I was a relatively high-level government official, and after the Prestige, everything changed. He went to the Ministry, but he did not touch a single piece of paper; I didn’t starve, but I got bored all I wanted and more. I felt isolated, I had the bad luck of living through a difficult time. And that in maritime rescue it is said that, when you go out to an accident, if you manage to return, you can thank God, but if you also return with the rescued crew, you return clapping hands.
As a lover of Galicia that you claim to be, did you want to help collect the tar when you saw the oil slick? I didn’t even consider it because I wouldn’t have been able to go. But I can admit that I did want to go down to four thousand and something meters when the ship sank. No friend of mine had done it and I was excited, but they sent me for a walk. I was only able to provide the names of three technicians to perform this task. And they were precisely the ones who later wrote down that of the “little strings of plasticine & rdquor; and they were so hot. That paper came into the hands of Mariano Rajoy, [vicepresidente y portavoz del Gobierno de José María Aznar]and he simply wanted to respect the opinion of the experts.
“I wanted to go down to four thousand and some meters when the ship sank, but they sent me for a walk”
You intended for this twentieth aniversary of the Prestige to bring together the administrations in the Muxía hostel, recently inaugurated after being one of Aznar’s promises after the tragedy. Every year around this time, international working days on maritime issues could be organized. For this, it would be necessary to gather the efforts of the State, the Xunta and the sectors that wish it. Thus, the high season of the Parador Costa da Morte would be extended, the Prestige would be remembered and sown in favor of the economic sectors related to the sea for the benefit of the Galicians. Although I am already a few years old, I also have an experience that I can put on the table.