On 11 April 1991, Haven was unloading a cargo of 230,000 tonnes of crude oil to the Multedo floating platform, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) off the coast of Genoa, Italy.

As the fire engulfed the ship, flames rose 100m high and, after a series of further explosions occurred, between 30 and 40,000 tons of oil poured into the sea.

The Italian authorities acted quickly, with hundreds of men fighting a fire which was difficult to access, and distributing more than 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) of inflatable barriers, submerged a metre below the surface, around the vessel to control the spillage.

On day two, MT Haven was to be towed close to the coast, in a bid to reduce the coastal area affected and make intervention easier.

After the wreck was declared safe, a mini sub diver found that the stern section had grazed a rocky spur, though not hard enough to open any new holes in the hull, and come to rest at an angle on the flat, sandy seabed.

[4] Prosecutors had asked for seven-year sentences for manslaughter against both father and son, and two years and four months against Christos Dovles, a former director of the shipping firm.

She drew similarities with the Moby Prince disaster, an unrelated collision in which 140 people died on a ferry just off the nearby city of Livorno, and the acquittal of four men on charges of manslaughter.