Insurer facing £760m oil bill

A BRITISH insurer has been ordered to pay about £760m in compensation for the Prestige oil spill.

The London P&I Club and the ship’s captain, Apostolos Mangouras, were told to pay the cash by a court in northern Spain.

It was the maximum amount possible under the club’s contract to insure the ship. The court also handed £1.4bn in compensation to the Spanish government and to regional authorities.

Ship owner Mare Shipping Inc and the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds were also told to pay compensation.

The Prestige, carrying 20m gallons of oil, ran into trouble in bad weather off Spain and spilt much of its cargo into the sea in 2002.