Crown Resources, an international oil trader with links to a major Russian banking group and an oil company, has chartered the vessel from Greek company Universe Maritime and used it as a tanker for accumulation of oil products on the roadsted of St.Petersburg for several months. After additional loading in Latvian port of Ventspils the tanker headed westwards for its last trip. The tanker has probably collided with a reef during a storm in Biscay Gulf and started to sink. Oil products from its damaged tank spilled and covered over 200 kms of seashore in Spain. When the salvation operation team started to pull the tanker further into open sea (as Spanish authorities denied permission to pull the vessel closer to shore in order to leave the stormy area) the vessel split into two and sank.

Crown Resources, which owns fuel oil that was carried by Prestige and which has chartered the vessel, is reported by the Russian press to have stated that it is not to blame for the accident, which cost so dearly. Andrey Varganov, vice-president of Crown Resources, is quoted by a Russian business newspaper to have said: "We are very sorry for the Spaniards, but this is not our fault: we have chartered a tanker which was available on the market and was up to the standards of international maritime register. As cargo owners we are entitled to compensation of our losses [as the cargo was insured for $8 mln]. However, the responsibility for the vessel is on the ship owner when the vessel is sailing". After this statement Varganov suddenly became unavailable for comment.

Maritime authorities of St.Petersburg port claim that the tanker was checked by port inspectors, that it has carried all proper certificates and was in a good condition, especially compared to some older vessels that make calls into St.Petersburg port. However, it is a fact that Prestige was an old single hull tanker built in 1976. Large international oil traders, although nobody should have an illusion that they are angels, have a policy of not chartering vessels older than 15 years. Apparently, such practice doesn’t exist for Russian oil companies. Industry experts report that the practice of chartering old single hull tankers for the purpose of accumulation of oil products, delivered by and re-loaded from smaller river tankers, is quite widespread in Russia, as the price of chartering such vessels is much lower compared to relatively more safe double hull vessels. Probably the vessel was in proper technical condition when it was carrying its cargo, but collision with a reef during a storm proved that single hull tankers are vulnerable and hazardous.

It is not the first case of such a serious ecological disaster involving an oil tanker. And it is not the first case when people should ask who will pay for it. Exxon and Elf oil companies are no friends of the Earth, but pressure was put on them after disasters of Exxon-Valdez and Erika tankers and they had to pay for dealing with the consequences of oil spills. Same pressure should be put on the Russian companies, that have chartered an old tanker, for them to pay for the damage. Pressure should also be put on all other companies to stop using hazardous single hull tankers for transportation of oil and other hazardous products. The problem of old and potentially hazardous vessels is not unique to Russia, not even to Third World countries.

Crown Resources is a trading arm of Tyumen Oil Company (TNK), a major Russian oil company controlled by Alfa-group. Crown Resources has offices in the UK, Switzerland, Gibraltar, Russia, Singapore, Caracas. Alfa-group, which has the same owners as Crown Resources, also has business interests in other countries round the globe.

At the moment TNK refuses to take any responsibility for the disaster and doesn’t think it should pay for the damage done. We are not related to Crown Resources, TNK’s spokesman said. However, he could not officially disclaim the fact that TNK and Crown Resources have the same owners (Alfa-group). Ties between TNK and Crown Resources are not a secret: the two companies and their owners are defendants in the same lawsuit in United States initiated by their unfortunate US partners.

Information about Crown Resources and its regional offices can be found at their corporate website  http://www.crownresourcesag.com.

Main offices of Crown Resources outside of Russia are located in London, Zug (Switzerland) and Gibraltar. The company is registered in Switzerland for the purpose of decreasing tax burden. You know, taxes are so high in Russia at the moment, but somehow Alfa-group’s head Mikhail Fridman is in the Top 100 of the world’s wealthiest people.

33 Cavendish Square
London
W1M 9HF
United Kingdom
Phone +44 20 7518 1700
Fax +44 20 7529 4025
Telex 051 92 30 06
 london@crownresourcesag.com

Suite 34 Irish Place
Gibraltar
Tel +35 040 721
Fax +35 041 987
 gibraltar@crownresourcesag.gi

Gotthardstrasse 2
PO Box 1516
CH-6300
Switzerland
Tel. +41 41 727 8787
Fax +41 41 727 8788
 zug@crownresourcesag.com

Novy Arbat 21
Office 43
121019 Moscow
Russia
Tel. +70 95 291 4610
Fax +70 95 956 3349
 moscow@crownresourcesag.com