The Prestige

The doomed oil tanker Prestige, like many ships that ply the world's seas, had a multinational pedigree. Built in Japan in 1976, it was classed in the U.S., flew the flag of the Bahamas, was the property of the Greek-owned Mare Shipping Inc. and operated by the Liberian-registered Universe Maritime Ltd. On its final voyage, the vessel — chartered by Crown Resources AG, a Swiss-based commodities trading firm — was carrying Russian heavy fuel oil from the Latvian port of Ventspils to Singapore. Crown Resources is part of Russia's Alfa Group, founded in 1988 by Mikhail Fridman, one of the country's post-Soviet billionaires. Oil traders in Singapore said the 77,000-ton cargo probably would have fetched $10 million to $10.5 million on the open market — about $2 million more than it would have brought had it sold its cargo in Europe.