 Milford Haven's association with the petro-chemical industry started with the opening of the first oil terminal and oil refinery in 1960; unfortunately this coincided with a serious oil-spill from "Esso Portsmouth", the first oil tanker to unload there.Since then, there have been numerous spills of varying magnitude, providing the port authority with a great deal of experience.Uniquely at the time, the harbourmaster instituted the principle of cleaning up first and allocating the blame (and the responsibility of paying for it) later.