The huge blast killed more than 145 people, injured 5,000, flattened buildings and made more than a quarter of a million people homeless. The New York Times has published satellite images of the submerged hull of the ship, the MV Rhosus, on the northern edge of the port. The Moldovan-flagged vessel called at Beirut port after the vessel suffered technical difficulties. The ship, named the MV Rhosus, was destined for Mozambique -- but stopped in Beirut due to financial difficulties that also created unrest with the ship's Russian and Ukrainian crew. Prokoshev said … It ignited on August 4, unleashing an enormous explosion that killed 200 people, injured more than 6,000 and destroyed large parts of the city. Moreira in 2014 visited the port warehouse where the material was stored, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported. Those named are Igor Grechushkin, a Russian businessman and apparent owner of the MV Rhosus that brought the ammonium nitrate into Beirut in late 2013, as well as the ship… They are not the same as international arrest warrants. Vessel loaded with ammonium nitrate was destined for another country, the reason she called Beirut is unclear, maybe for supplies or due to some mechanical trouble. The retired sea captain said he was baffled earlier this week when he awoke to find an email from a journalist asking him about the Rhosus. Vessel loaded with ammonium nitrate was destined for another country, the reason she called Beirut is unclear, maybe for supplies or due to some mechanical trouble. According to Prokoshev, the ship had been leaking but was seaworthy when it sailed into Beirut in September 2013. The Russian cargo ship Rhosus, which in September 2013 brought 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate to Lebanon, a cargo which is suspected … Lebanon asks Interpol to detain two Russians over Beirut blast, In Beirut’s glass, fragments of a city rebuilding, Lebanon PM, former ministers charged over Beirut blast, At least 48 people killed in Sudan’s Darfur clashes, Uncertainty as Palestine’s Abbas announces elections, A decade after revolution, Tunisia’s women face an uphill battle, Biden to reverse Trump’s Muslim ban on inauguration day, FBI probing Capitol riot link to foreign governments, groups, Costa Rica’s ‘explosive’ debt crisis: All you need to know. The MV Rhosus arrived at the port in 2013 carrying 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate Lebanon's government has blamed the huge blast that devastated parts of … The arrow to the heart of Beirut turns out to have been the cargo ship MV Rhosus, in transit from Georgia (the Caucasian country, not the state) to a mine in Mozambique. This has fostered a culture of impunity. Over time, the hangar was used to store other flammable and explosive materials. The ammonium nitrate cargo has been confiscated from the arrested vessel MV Rhosus, Lebanon’s Supreme Defense Council has confirmed. 102.132.212.174 (talk) 00:38, 7 August 2020 (UTC) Prokoshev also told RFE/RL the MV Rhosus was a very old vessel that sank two or three years ago because nobody was maintaining the ship. Rhosus was detained … "We decided not to take risks.". Sources close to the investigation told Al Jazeera investigators they believe Grechushkin and Prokoshew are in Russia, while Moreira’s whereabouts are unknown. Vessel RHOSUS is a cargo ship sailing under the flag of Moldova. Some 30 others had previously been arrested in connection with the blast. Top Lebanese politicians quickly united in their condemnation of Sawan, arguing he did not have the authority to prosecute top officials because of political immunity, even as legal groups – including the prestigious Beirut Bar Association – said doing so was fully within his powers. Her IMO number is 8630344 and MMSI number is 214181621. Chris Hunter says the huge quantity of ammonium nitrate should have been immediately moved out of the busy port after it arrived. "The ship was old, and the cover of the hold bent," Musinchak said by phone. Interpol has issued Red Notices at the request of a Lebanese judge for a former owner and captain of the MV Rhosus, the now-sunk vessel that in 2014 shipped the ammonium nitrate to Beirut that exploded on Aug. 4, and a Portuguese national involved in the shipment, the NNA reports. Cypriot police questioned Grechushkin at his home in Cyprus on Thursday, a security source said. Sawan paused his investigation on December 17 to allow a court to rule on Zaeiter and Khalil’s motion to dismiss him, but a judge on Monday said he should resume the probe. Authorities believed the ship in question, MV Rhosus, belonged to a Russian businessman named Igor Grechuskhin who declared bankruptcy not long after coast guard officials in Lebanon impounded the ship for mechanical violations and transferred its dangerous cargo of chemical fertilizer to a warehouse, where it remained until it exploded in early August, killing over 120 people and … Igor Grechushkin, 43, who has been identified as the owner of the ship MV Rhosus, which abandoned the shipment in 2013, was questioned at his home … It is a priority for CBC to create a website that is accessible to all Canadians including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. What the Beirut blast radius would look like if it occurred in Canadian port cities. The crew were asked to load some heavy road equipment and take it to Jordan's Port of Aqaba before resuming their journey to Africa, where the ammonium nitrate was to be delivered to an explosives manufacturer. MV Rhosus was a general cargo ship that was abandoned in Beirut, Lebanon, after the ship was declared unseaworthy and the charterers lost interest in the cargo. But local authorities, the Lebanese, should be punished. Attempts to contact Grechushkin were unsuccessful. The lawyers' application to the court emphasized "the imminent danger the crew was facing given the 'dangerous' nature of the cargo," the lawyers wrote in a 2015 article published by shiparrested.com, a website providing information on ship arrests and releases. What is ammonium nitrate, and how did it cause such a devastating explosion in Beirut? The Take delves into the Beirut community’s efforts to clean up, and create in the aftermath of the Beirut explosion. The 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate which the ship was carrying was confiscated and brought to shore in 2014, and later contributed to the 2020 Beirut explosions. The MV Rhosus Sirotencu Liviu Badri Daher, director general of Lebanese customs, told broadcaster LBCI on Wednesday that customs had sent six … The captain of the ship, the MV Rhosus, has previously been named as a Russian national, and its owner a Russian national based in Cyprus. General cargo vessel Rhosus called Beirut, Lebanon, in October last year. Mohamed Arrachedi, the ITF network coordinator in charge of … The Rhosus … Prokoshev identified the ship's owner as Russian businessman Igor Grechushkin. The current position of RHODOS is at Caribbean Sea (coordinates 10.86357 N / 75.4921 W) reported 4 days ago by AIS. Rescuers in Lebanon recover more bodies days after massive explosion, Lebanon to probe why ammonium nitrate sat for years at Beirut port. A notice was also issued for Portuguese national Jorge Moreira, who allegedly bought the explosive material from Georgian factory Rustavi Azot. The crew had stacked the equipment, including excavators and road-rollers, on top of the doors to the cargo hold, where the ammonium nitrate was housed, according to the ship's Ukrainian boatswain, Boris Musinchak. That left the Rhosus stranded in Beirut. The massive explosion in Beirut in photos, Beirut blast a 'knockout punch' after succession of crippling blows to Lebanon. No top officials have been successfully prosecuted for crimes in Lebanon’s post-civil war history despite rampant corruption, mismanagement, and recurring political violence. After the explosive cargo entered Beirut’s port in 2013, Lebanese political, security and judicial officials failed to remove it from a hangar in the port for six years despite repeated warnings. Sawan will restart questioning on January 25 when a harsh COVID-19 lockdown in Lebanon is set to end, a source close to the judge told Al Jazeera, saying he would be unable to summon defendants or issue subpoenas before then. At some point, Prokoshev said, he sold some of the ship's fuel and used the cash to hire lawyers, who got the crew released on compassionate grounds in 2014. "I feel sorry for the people [killed or injured in the blast]. Cypriot shipping magnate is true owner of controversial Rhosus vessel-OCCRP The true owner of Rhosus vessel which shipped over to Beirut port the devastating explosives cargo that rocked the city on August 4 was Charalambos Manoli – a Cypriot shipping magnate, according to an investigative report published by OCCRP and Partners last Friday. Radio Free Europe (RFE) deduced this must be a reference to the MV Rhosus, a ship owned by Russian businessman Igor Grechushkin impounded by Lebanese officials in 2013 because the ship was suffering technical problems when it entered the Port of Beirut. According to Prokoshev, he received an email in May 2018 from a lawyer telling him the ship sank "recently.". According to the newspaper, the 86-metre-long single-deck vessel, flying a Moldovan flag and owned by Cyprus-based businessman Igor Grechushkin, began sinking in February 2018 after years of being stranded in the port. Prokoshev said the ship had a hole in the hull, and the crew, while on it, had to regularly pump water out to keep it afloat. Sawan in December had charged the two former ministers and current members of Parliament, Ali Hasan Khalil and Ghazi Zaeiter, with criminal negligence over the explosion. On Tuesday, that stockpile caught fire and exploded not far from a built-up residential area of the city. Prokoshev and lawyers acting for some creditors accused the ship's owner of abandoning the vessel without paying his outstanding debts to the port or the crew. He called the decision to store the material in Beirut port a "gross violation of safe storage measures, considering that ammonium nitrate loses its useful properties in six months.". Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem. The ship was never supposed to stop in Beirut, but its owner wanted to pick up extra cargo, claims Prokoshev. MV Rhosus is seen in Volos, Greece, on April 19, 2013. Russian-owned general cargo vessel Rhosus set sail from Georgia to Mozambique in September 2013, carrying 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. The MV Rhosus, a Moldovan-flagged ship, arrived in Lebanon in November 2013 while sailing from Georgia and bound for Mozambique. A judicial source told Al Jazeera on Tuesday Public Prosecutor Ghassan Khoury received a letter informing him the so-called “red notices” had been issued, based on the request of Lebanon’s judiciary. RHOSUS: Type of ship: GENERAL CARGO: MMSI: 214181621: Gross tonnage: 1900 tons: DWT: 3226 tons: Year of build: 1986: Builder: TOKUOKA SHIPBUILDING - SANMU, JAPAN: Flag: MOLDOVA: Home port: GIURGIULESTI: Class society: MARITIME LLOYD: Manager & owner: INTERFLEET SHIPMANAGEMENT - BURGAS, BULGARIA: Former names: NEW LEGEND GLORY until 2008 Aug ZHENG LONG until 2007 … They did not care about the cargo at all," he said. The times reported that the ship sank between Feb. 16 and 18, 2018. Lebanon's cabinet on Wednesday agreed to place all Beirut port officials who have overseen storage and security since 2014 under house arrest, ministerial sources said. The chemicals that went up in flames in Beirut's deadliest peace-time explosion arrived in the Lebanese capital seven years ago on a leaky Russian-leased cargo ship that, according to its captain, should never have stopped there. "It could have ruined the whole ship, and I said no.". Nearly a year later, once the crew had disembarked, the ammonium nitrate was unloaded and put in a dock warehouse for safety reasons. It was inspected by Port State Control officers, who found “deficiencies” and banned it from sailing. Interpol asked to detain captain and owner of ship that carried thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate to Beirut. "It was impossible," said Prokoshev, 70, of the operation to try and load the extra cargo, speaking by phone from his home in the Russian resort town of Sochi on the Black Sea coast. But the ship never left Beirut, the crew having tried and failed to safely load the additional cargo and the owners getting embroiled in a lengthy legal dispute over port fees. "Charalambos Manoli, the Cypriot businessman who owned the ship before Grechushkin bought it, claims the vessel remained docked in Beirut and was destroyed in the blast on Tuesday; he says he saw the wreckage in the photos of the destroyed port" (!) RHOSUS was detained after PSC inspection, which found a number of deficiencies. The MV Rhosus, the abandoned ship connected to the Beirut blast, never made it into the ILO database. The damage at Beirut's port, where the blast occurred, shows the full power of the explosion. Once the crew left, the ammonium nitrate was unloaded. ‘Unprecedented exodus’: Why are migrant workers leaving the UK? 11:07 . Immigration restrictions forced the captain and three crew members to remain onboard while the legal dispute dragged on for 11 months, without wages and with only limited supplies of food. The ship is said to have entered Beirut port in September 2013 due to technical difficulties and was eventually banned from continuing its voyage. In October 2013 the MV Rhosus, a ship sailing under the Moldovan flag, headed from Georgia to Mozambique carrying a huge supply of ammonium nitrate, a … WATCH | Blast leaves an already struggling city devastated: Audience Relations, CBC P.O. That's why it was kept on board when we were there ... that ammonium nitrate had a very high concentration," Prokoshev said. "They were being greedy," said Boris Prokoshev, who was captain of the Rhosus in 2013 when, he says, the owner told him to make an unscheduled stop in Lebanon to pick up extra cargo. The vessel, built in 1986 by Tokuoka Zosen, a Japanese shipbuilding company, was initially designed to dredge the ocean floor for a Japanese shipping firm, but ended up being sold on to … "The cargo was highly explosive. The vessel RHOSUS (IMO: 8630344) is a General Cargo Ship built in 1986 (34 years old) and currently sailing under the flag of Unknown. In 2013, after it became clear the additional cargo could not be accommodated, Lebanese authorities impounded the vessel for failing to pay port fees. UK eyes easing of COVID-19 lockdown in March: Live, Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights. The ship, built in 1986, flying the flag of Moldova, was carrying the cargo to an explosives manufacturing firm in Mozambique. The Justice Ministry is closed for three days of national mourning. The company used to ship a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate to Beirut port, where it caused a devastating explosion last August, has been linked … Several port officials have been placed under house arrest and Lebanon’s president is promising a transparent investigation into the explosion. But the hold doors buckled. Beirut, Lebanon – Interpol has issued three international arrest notices for the owner and captain of a ship that brought 2,750 tonnes of explosive material into Beirut’s port seven years before it exploded in the deadly August 2020 blast. General cargo vessel RHOSUS called Beirut, Lebanon, in October last year. Initial Lebanese investigations into what happened have pointed to inaction and negligence in the handling of the potentially dangerous chemical. Prokoshev said the ship was carrying 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a highly combustible chemical compound, from Georgia to Mozambique when the order came to divert to Beirut on its way through the Mediterranean. Those named are Igor Grechushkin, a Russian businessman and apparent owner of the MV Rhosus that brought the ammonium nitrate into Beirut in late 2013, as well as the ship’s captain at the time, Borys Prokoshew, who is also Russian. The vessel is en route to the port of Algeciras, sailing at a speed of 21.0 knots and expected to arrive there on Aug 31, 22:00. "I didn't understand anything," he told The Associated Press. ADVERTISEMENT. media caption Starting with … The ship might have succeeded in leaving Beirut had it managed to load the additional cargo. CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices. A Cyprus police spokesman said an individual, whom he did not name, had been questioned at the request of Interpol Beirut in relation to the cargo. The events leading up to the catastrophic explosion in Beirut, Lebanon that killed more than 135 and injured 5,000, began in November 2013, when the cargo ship MV Rhosus, loaded with 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, made an unplanned stop in Beirut.. However, he said Lebanese authorities paid little attention to the ammonium nitrate, which had been stacked in the hull in large sacks. Main ship particulars are length of 86 m and beam of 12 m. Red notices are non-binding requests circulated to law enforcement agencies worldwide to find and provisionally arrest people, often pending extradition. WATCH | See some of the worst damage left by the blast: Reuters could not immediately reach Lebanon's justice minister for comment. RHOSUS: Type of ship: GENERAL CARGO: MMSI: 214181621: Gross tonnage: 1900 tons: DWT: 3226 tons: Year of build: 1986: Builder: TOKUOKA SHIPBUILDING - SANMU, JAPAN: Flag: MOLDOVA: Home port: GIURGIULESTI: Class society: MARITIME LLOYD: Manager & owner: INTERFLEET SHIPMANAGEMENT - BURGAS, BULGARIA: Former names: NEW LEGEND GLORY until 2008 Aug ZHENG LONG until 2007 … The head of Beirut port and the head of customs said that several letters were sent to the judiciary asking for the material be removed, but no action was taken. "I opened my inbox and saw a letter about the Rhosus. A desperate search for survivors is underway after the deadly blast at the port in Beirut, which left the city devastated. WATCH | An explosives expert explains what made ship's cargo so dangerous: A senior representative for Fabrica de Explosivos did not immediately respond when sent a request for comment on LinkedIn. He levelled the same charges against Lebanon’s outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab and former Public Works Minister Youssef Fenians. Arrest notices issued for men connected to 2,750 tonnes of explosive material shipped into Beirut’s port. Levan Burdiladze, the Rustavi Azot plant director, told Reuters that his company had only operated the chemical factory for the last three years and so he could not confirm whether the ammonium nitrate was produced there. I thought maybe they were sending me money, my salary.". The ammonium nitrate was sold by Georgian fertilizer maker Rustavi Azot LLC and was to be delivered to a Mozambique explosives maker Fabrica de Explosivos. Details for the ship M V Rhosus , IMO 8630339, Sailing vessel, Position Aegean Sea with current real time AIS position and ship photos by vesseltracker.com. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6. It was reportedly sailing under a Moldovan flag with a mostly Ukrainian crew at the time. The investigation into Lebanon’s worst peaces-time disaster, headed by Judge Fadi Sawan, has been paused for nearly four weeks after two influential suspects filed a motion to have him dismissed. Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers charged with negligence over Beirut port explosion. An analysis of a satellite image from February 2018 commissioned from space technology company Maxar by the New York Times showed the sunken ship a few hundred metres from the warehouse where its cargo was stored. Port officials have been placed under house arrest and Lebanon ’ s efforts to clean,... 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