The extradition will be requested after it was verified that Giacomo Pisani left Peru on March 9, despite the existence of a judicial measure against him that prevented him from leaving the country, said a source from the Ministry who requested the reservation.
The formal request will be presented by the International Judicial Cooperation Unit of the Peruvian prosecutor’s office, although without specifying the justice of which country.
That spill occurred on January 15 while the ‘Mare Doricum’ was unloading crude oil at the La Pampilla refinery, in Ventanilla, 30 km north of Lima, owned by the Spanish oil company Repsol. The company attributed the incident to waves caused by the volcanic eruption in Tonga, on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.
Pisani is being investigated for his alleged responsibility in the oil spill, which caused a great impact on the flora and fauna of the Peruvian coast, according to the authorities of the South American country.
The captain, who would have returned to Italy according to different media, left the country 24 hours after the request of the Public Ministry, assured the local weekly Caretas.
Immobilized at the request of justice, the ship has been anchored for four months six miles off the Peruvian coast under surveillance by the Navy coastguard.
The ‘Mare Doricum’ is a Suezmax-type freighter, built in 2009 and owned by the shipping company Fratelli d’Amico, based in Naples.
The Prosecutor’s Office is also investigating eight Repsol executives, who are also unable to leave the country due to the incident, including the president of Repsol Peru, the Spanish Jaime Fernández-Cuesta Luca de Tena. The other executives are Peruvian.
Repsol was sued last week before the Peruvian justice for 4,500 million dollars for damages.
The complaint was filed by the Consumer Protection Agency, but Repsol rejected it, alleging that it was unfounded.
For its part, the Agency for Environmental Assessment and Enforcement (OEFA) also imposed five fines on Repsol for some 620,000 dollars.
The oil spill spread through waters and coasts up to 140 kilometers north of the refinery, causing the death of an undetermined number of fish, birds and marine mammals.
Fishing and tourism activities in the area have been affected from the time of the incident, considered the worst environmental emergency recorded by Peru.
