She was carrying ore from Brazil to Japan, and returning with crude oil from the Persian Gulf to Europe or America.
The ship had build number 296 at the Uljanik shipyard in the port city Pula in then SFR Yugoslavia (today Croatia) where it was built in 1972.
López and León recounted that they had been painting the ship's bow when it had been shaken by a series of explosions and had gone down in a matter of a few seconds.
During an interview in Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet in January 2011, the retired Bergesen captain Johnny Eilers gave his view on what happened: The inert (neutral gas) systems were often unreliable those days, and many officers lacked education in how to measure gas levels.
Also the deck water seal was unreliable in heavy seas, allowing this vapor to enter the inert gas system and generator.