Lloyd's insurer Terra Nova was ordered by an Ecuadorean court last week to pay $10m (£6.4m) for environmental damage caused by a client's oil spill.

The Jessica, the Ecuadorean tanker insured by Terra Nova, ran aground off the Galapagos Islands in January 2001, spilling around 200,000 gallons of crude oil.

The wildlife of the islands, which are an official UN World Heritage site, was put at serious risk.

More than 60% of one of the islands' unique species, the marine iguana, was wiped out.

A lawsuit was filed by the Galapagos National Park against Terra Nova when it claimed its insurance policy had not been valid at the time of the accident.

The park also filed lawsuits against state oil subsidiary Petrocomercial and the boat's owner, Acotramar.

The Ecuadorian court threw out the charges against Petrocomercial and Acotramar, but ruled that Terra Nova should pay damages to the park.

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