Search for ships currently entered in the London P&I Club by their name or I M O number Search Search for correspondents in our global network by country/area or port/city Search Mangouras court ruling could increase risk of politically influenced bail requirements   15 January 2009 THE London P&I Club has warned that the January 8 decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg in the case of Capt Apostolos Mangouras, the master of the Prestige, could seriously increase the risk of bail requirements being influenced by political considerations. It adds that the ECtHR has seemingly failed to understand that the provision of bail for criminal charges falls outside the ordinary scope of P&I cover, and has furthermore sought to justify itself by reference to EU legislation which post-dates the Prestige incident. Capt Mangouras was arrested immediately upon arrival ashore after battling for days to save the 81,000 dwt tanker Prestige after it broke apart and sank off the coast of Spain in 2002 in an incident which led to extensive pollution following the release into the sea of 70,000 tonnes of fuel oil. He spent 83 days in prison and was only released upon payment of bail amounting to Euro3m. The Prestige was entered for marine liability insurance coverage with the London P&I Club which, given the exceptional circumstances of the case, and the probability that any legal challenge was likely to take some considerable time, took the unprecedented decision in January 2003 to assist Capt Mangouras in establishing bail on humanitarian grounds. The Club says the level of bail set was so extraordinarily high that there was no prospect of Capt Mangouras or his family being able to raise it from their own resources. But the ECtHR has now ruled that both the length of Capt Mangourass detention and the amount of bail demanded were not excessive in the circumstances of the case, a decision which has given rise to serious concern within the