Case 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off spain Flying a Bahamas flag, the 42, 000-tonne vessel a was being pulled by a Chinese tug in the employ of the Smit salvage company when it broke up Rajoy said it sank off vigo, and was in international waters. The Japanese-built tanker which appears not to have been inspected since 1999, when the ports of rotterdam and New york both complained about security lapses --is a single-skinned vessel, a type which the European Commission wants to phase out of operations upgraded safety standardsCase 1 Massive pollution feared as oil spill tanker Prestige sinks off Spain • Flying a Bahamas flag, the 42,000-tonne vessel was being pulled by a Chinese tug in the employ of the Smit salvage company when it broke up. Rajoy said it sank off Vigo, and was in international waters. The Japanese-built tanker -- which appears not to have been inspected since 1999, when the ports of Rotterdam and New York both complained about security lapses -- is a single-skinned vessel, a type which the European Commission wants to phase out of operations with upgraded safety standards