Decision ID: 001538

In February 2004 the 1992 Fund Executive Committee noted that the Spanish State had taken legal action against the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), the classification society of the Prestige, before the Federal Court of first instance in New York requesting compensation for all damage caused by the incident, estimated to exceed £390 million, maintaining that ABS had been negligent in the inspection and classification of the vessel and had failed to detect corrosion, permanent deformation, defective materials and fatigue in the vessel. It was also noted that ABS had denied the allegations and had in its turn taken legal action against the State, arguing that any damage had been caused in whole or in part by its own negligence, and had made a counterclaim requesting that the State should be ordered to indemnify ABS for any amount that it might be obliged to pay pursuant to any judgement against it in relation to the incident. The Committee also noted that the regional authorities of the Pais Vasco had taken legal action against ABS in the Federal Court of first instance in Houston, claiming compensation for £28 million, and that the Court had decided that the action should be transferred to the Federal Court of first instance in New York.