Follow the oil

1 November 2002

Friends of the Earth campaigners staged a demonstration outside Crown Resources AG in London on Wednesday 20th November. Campaigners called on the company to take responsibility for its involvement in the recent Prestige oil disaster.

The action follows the discovery that the cargo of the oil tanker, Prestige, was owned by the company. Liability in oil tanker accidents is notoriously difficult to assign because of the complex web of ownership and control.

By registering companies and vessels overseas corporations are able to evade tough regulations. What is more surprising is how much actually takes place in the heart of London.

Crown Resources AG is a perfect example of this. It was originally formed in Gibraltar and this office is believed to have controlled the movements of the Prestige. Crown's London office is its largest but the company's HQ is in Zug, Switzerland.

Five of the company's directors are British - and one is a former Gibraltar Government minister. The company is ultimately owned by a massive Russian conglomerate - the Alfa Group Consortium.

But the Prestige's British connections don't stop there:

Bahamas Maritime Authority
Based in London -
the Prestige was registered
under the Bahamas flag -
aptly referred to as
a 'flag of convenience'.

Liberian International Ship
and Corporate Registry
Also in London -
this secretive
organisation registered
the company that owns
the Prestige.

The action was supported by Spanish locals affected by the spill.