Ship whose cargo allegedly exploded in Lebanon belongs to Russian businessman

«In 2013, a bulk cargo ship sailing under Moldovan flag was carrying hazardous cargo from Batumi to Mozambique and made an unplanned call to Beirut. There the motor vessel was detained by the port authorities due to the technical violations of operations. Simultaneously the crew consisting of Russian and Ukrainian citizens appealed to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) complaining that their employer, a Cyprian Teto Shipping company from the beginning of the contracts had not been paying their salary. <…> In response to the ITF address, the ship’s owner, a businessman from Khabarovsk, promised to sell the ship and settle the debts,» the statement said.

According to the professional union, at first the port authorities were not giving permission to unload the hazardous cargo. By March 2014, only the captain, chief and third engineers, and the boatswain remained aboard. «Then the sailors said that in addition to the ship’s detention and the unpaid salary, the crew was also worried by the fact that the Rhosus carried particularly dangerous cargo - ammonium nitrate. Beirut’s port authorities refused either to unload the cargo or to move it to a different vessel,» the statement said.

In the summer of 2014, during the meeting with a consulate official, director general of land and maritime transport Abdel Hafiz El Kaissi reported that Lebanese authorities began to review the issue of repatriation of the Rhosus crew combined with the issue of the sale of the vessel and its explosive cargo.

«In the end, the court issued a permission to unload ammonium nitrate but the port agent M. Baghdadi continued to postpone the repatriation of sailors flat out refusing to hire the local technical crew. After some time the locals to unload the cargo were found, and the crew was allowed to return home. The staff of the Assol Sailors’ Support Foundation in Odessa assisted in repatriation, the statement noted.

To date, according to the information of the ITF inspector in Novorossiysk Olga Ananyina, the ship’s owner hasn’t paid the crew yet and the hazardous cargo was not disposed of properly over all this time.

Source: TASS