Amoco Haven tanker disaster
In 1991 the
Amoco Haven, an oil tanker owned by Troodos Shipping and loaded with 144,000 tonnes (1 million barrels) of
crude oil, exploded, caught fire and sank off the coast of
Genoa,
Italy.
Five people were killed and for the next 12 years the Mediterranean coast of Italy and France were polluted, especially around
Genoa and southern
France. The owner of
Troodos Shipping,
Stelios Haji-Ioannou, was prosecuted and charged with manslaughter and attempted bribery but was later acquitted. The ship had been carrying one million barrels of Iranian crude when it was rocked by an explosion on
April 11,
1991. It sank after burning for three days. At the centre of the case was the allegation that Stelios and his father had kept their vessel, the Troodos-owned Cyprus-flagged
Amoco Haven, in such disrepair that it blew up. However, according to news items it is also alleged that the tanker was scrapped after being hit by an
exocet and should not have been put back into operation.[
1]
The Italian president of the
World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Grazi Francescato said in a statement that he was disgusted at Mr Haji-Ioannou's conduct.
*
List of shipwrecks in 1991*
Cyprus News Item*
Wreck of the Amoco Mifford Haven at DIVERNET
