Apparatus and process for recovering hydrocarbons from an underwater well or pipeline in uncontrolled release conditions, wherein the apparatus comprises a separation chamber (11) having an inlet (11a) for a multi-phase stream comprising the flow of hydrocarbons (23) in outlet from the underwater well or from the underwater pipeline, and a plurality of outlets (13, 14, 18) for respectively conveying a mainly gas phase (21), a mainly light liquid phase (22b) and a mainly heavy liquid phase (22a) coming from the separation of the multi-phase stream in inlet, the inlet (11a) consisting of a directioning body (31) of the multi-phase stream towards the inside with respect to the separation chamber (11), the directioning body (31) comprising a first inlet end (31c) of the multi-phase stream and a second end (31b), opposite to the first end (31c), the second end (31b) being in fluid communication with the separation chamber (11) and it is characterised in that an outlet (18) for the mainly heavy liquid phase (22a) of the plurality of outlets (13,14,18) is in fluid connection with the inlet (11a) of the separation chamber (11).