Beirut Explosion

[Mistral]

It seems not all of it blew up

 

https://twitter.com/Dalatrm/status/1290780414114779137

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

Fireworks would appear to be part of it. In one of the videos there was a close up of the fire, and there appears to be small detonations, looking rather like fireworks going off. So that would appear to be the initiator, I can believe them on that. It seems that initiated the big one. The only questions seem to be what the big one was, and why some lunatic though putting it next to a fireworks factory in the middle of a city was a good idea.

You're talking about the same people that launch missiles from school playgrounds and hospital court yards.

 

Thats Hezbollah. That is not the same people as the Lebanese Port Authority.

 

Well even if it was, it clearly isnt anymore......

[Stuart Galbraith]

From the top of Mistrals post, it seems it has been sat there, either in the ship or in the port, for nigh on 7 years....

https://twitter.com/WCM_JustSocial/status/1290728026855165957/photo/1

[Stuart Galbraith]

The owner of the ship is alleged to be Igor Grechushkin , a Russian national living in Cyprus. If you do a search for that name on the internet you find a linked in account that has been deleted. Draw your own conclusions.

Edited August 5, 2020 by Stuart Galbraith

[Stuart Galbraith]

And thats the Rhosus. Which makes me wonder if the wrecked ship you can now sitting on the quay split in half is this unfortunate vessel?

https://www.fleetmon.com/maritime-news/2014/4194/crew-kept-hostages-floating-bomb-mv-rhosus-beirut/

[Stuart Galbraith]

https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&pto=aue&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=https://zona.media/news/2020/08/05/beirutblast&usg=ALkJrhhbyr4LZiz1D31fVflROiCVa8hGMw

 

The powerful explosion in the port of Beirut, which caused widespread destruction and numerous casualties in the Lebanese capital, was due to the detonation of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate unloaded from the Rhosus in September 2014. Such data are provided by the Lebanese channel LBCI following the meeting of the Supreme Defense Council. The actual owner of this vessel was businessman Igor Grechushkin, according to the sailors who worked for Rhosus.

The confiscated saltpeter was stored in a warehouse at berth 12 in the port of Beirut, awaiting further disposal since 2014. At the council meeting, information was announced about a recent inspection at the pier, which found that the warehouse can be accessed without hindrance through a certain gap.

The explosion, according to preliminary information, occurred during welding work, which was supposed to block access to the inside: sparks ignited some firecrackers, also stored in the warehouse, and then 2,750 tons of saltpeter detonated. The port infrastructure was almost completely destroyed.

The port director told the board that the ammonium nitrate had been loaded onto berth 12 in accordance with the court's decision and the confiscated cargo was not easily accessible.

“We will collect the facts about this dangerous cargo, which has been stored since 2014, that is, six years,” promised Prime Minister Hassan Diab. "I will monitor the progress of this investigation."

The Rhosus vessel , carrying 2,750 tons of saltpeter from Georgia's Batumi to Mozambique, made an unscheduled stop in Beirut in September 2013 due to problems on board.

The inspection, having examined Rhosus, prohibited the crew from taking the ship out of the port. The Lebanese authorities released part of the crew, but left four sailors, who were forbidden to go to the ground until the appearance of the replacement crew.

The owner of the court, who lives in Cyprus, a native of Khabarovsk, Igor Grechushkin, according to the sailors , “actually abandoned the ship” - the lawyers of the creditors received three arrest warrants for Rhosus, who operated under the Moldovan flag.

“Initially, there were eight Ukrainian sailors on board,” said Natalya Klamm, executive director of the Odessa Assol Seamen Aid Fund. “After the sailors with our help turned to the Ukrainian consul, five of our compatriots were able to return home. To keep the vessel alive, four crew members remained on board: three Ukrainians and one Russian. " For a long time, the remaining crew members had to ask for help; they returned from Lebanon only a year later.

"Because of the risks associated with the storage of ammonium nitrate aboard a vessel, port management shifted the load in one of the warehouses on the shore, - noted in the journal Arrest News lawyers engaged in business Rhosus. "The vessel and its cargo remain in port awaiting sale and / or disposal."

According to the MarineTraffic service , which last recorded the location of Rhosus in 2014, the vessel was indeed near the 12th berth where the explosion occurred.

On the thematic forums of seafarers, there are repeated negative reviews about the ship owner Igor Grechushkin and his company Teto Shipping Ltd: seafarers write about salary delays and the bad condition of the ship. Company Teto Shipping Ltd was incorporated in the Marshall Islands in 2012 and ceased to exist in September 2014.

In July 2013, Rhosus was arrested for 14 days in Seville, according to data from the Spanish Ministry of Transport.

According to the latest data, the explosion in the port of Beirut killed at least 78 people, injured at least four thousand; large-scale destruction in the city.

[Stuart Galbraith]

Incidentally if none of this is of interest, tell me to shut up. This all sounds very troubling indeed. If I was to guess, I would say she was being employed as a blockade breaker.

https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&pto=aue&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.morehod.ru/forum/blacklist/teto-shipping-ship-rhosus-t25564.html&usg=ALkJrhg0If90jEaZtSWRxGZRbJtf1G_KYg

 

Rhosus seems to have disappeared from shiptracker. Again, draw your own conclusions.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:148409/mmsi:214181621/imo:8630344/vessel:RHOSUS

Edited August 5, 2020 by Stuart Galbraith

[Der Zeitgeist]

Surprisingly, the grain elevator next to the warehouse that exploded is still standing, probably functionally destroyed though.

As most of the wheat is imported, and almost all of that went through this single facility, there might be quite a food crisis on the horizon.

 

Edited August 5, 2020 by Der Zeitgeist

[Stuart Galbraith]

If you watch the video, there also appears to be a plume of water being laid on the fire. So it is highly likely that a large chunk of the City's emergency services have been wiped out as well.

[Der Zeitgeist]

Here's a better view of the damage to the silo. Note the crater. The water inside is actually seawater, as the explosion blew the entire pier away, opening it to the sea.

Edited August 5, 2020 by Der Zeitgeist

[RETAC21]

She seems to be the typical mini bulker doing the rounds of the Eastern Med:

 

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/search.php?limit=12&limitstart=0&search_title=&search_title_option=&search_imo=8630344&search_pen_no=&search_mmsi=&search_eni=&search_callsign=&search_category_1=&search_cat1childs=&search_uid=&search_country=&search_port=&search_subports=&search_flag=&search_homeport=&search_adminstatus=&search_classsociety=&search_builder=&search_buildyear1=&search_owner=&search_manager=&sortkey=p.lid&sortorder=desc&page_limit=12&viewtype=1

[Stuart Galbraith]

She clearly was, in 2010 she was reputedly in excellent condition. But as you can read from above, in 2012 she was bought by a company called Teto shipping that had just come into existence, and suddenly everything seems to have gone wrong from there.

 

https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&pto=aue&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.morehod.ru/forum/blacklist/teto-shipping-ship-rhosus-t25564.html&usg=ALkJrhg0If90jEaZtSWRxGZRbJtf1G_KYg

Evgeniy, everything is correct, earlier the ship was owned by the company Acheon akti - but already for 4 months this ship belongs to a certain Teto Shipping. This company was just "born" and bought this would-be steamer. The shipowner has this only vessel, the company is young and this stomach is the court. the owner saves on everything he can. I don’t argue that in 2010 this vessel was in excellent condition, but I left there a month ago and I’m telling you how things are at the moment.

 

Incidentally, do a search under Igor Grechushkin. Not only has his accounts been taken down, but even people who seem to be associated with him on search engines have taken their pages down.

[RETAC21]

Incidentally if none of this is of interest, tell me to shut up. This all sounds very troubling indeed. If I was to guess, I would say she was being employed as a blockade breaker.

https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&pto=aue&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.morehod.ru/forum/blacklist/teto-shipping-ship-rhosus-t25564.html&usg=ALkJrhg0If90jEaZtSWRxGZRbJtf1G_KYg

 

Rhosus seems to have disappeared from shiptracker. Again, draw your own conclusions.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:148409/mmsi:214181621/imo:8630344/vessel:RHOSUS

 

No, I don't think so, seems to me it's the typical operation of a subpar tramp ship between ports with little or no control until it had bad luck and got caught in Lebanon (no grease money apparently...) at which point owner and shipper walked away with whatever profits.

 

https://www.parismou.org/detentions-banning/current-detentions

 

https://www.parismou.org/detentions-banning/current-bannings

[Murph]

Yes, but it also could have had additional blast effects from grain dust. Grain silo explosions are deadly.

[Murph]

Slow motion: Watch the smaller explosiions at the base of the cloud initially. Also the reddish cloud of a nitrate explosion.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OvgHZM95C0

[RETAC21]

Yes, but it also could have had additional blast effects from grain dust. Grain silo explosions are deadly.

 

Indeed but I don't think it was a factor, in the slo mo video you can see the blast wave hitting the silo after a red cloud has already developed

[Josh]

 

Yes, but it also could have had additional blast effects from grain dust. Grain silo explosions are deadly.

 

Indeed but I don't think it was a factor, in the slo mo video you can see the blast wave hitting the silo after a red cloud has already developed

 

The silo building was surprisingly still standing, to some degree.

[bojan]

Concrete silos are tough MFs, there is a case of one still standing in Bosnia after 4 years of being on the frontline and being fired on everyday. It was even repairable. Architects would know the cause, but I suspect circular footprint has something to do with it, there is no "single point of failure" as with buildings with a square footprint.

[RETAC21]

 

 

Yes, but it also could have had additional blast effects from grain dust. Grain silo explosions are deadly.

 

Indeed but I don't think it was a factor, in the slo mo video you can see the blast wave hitting the silo after a red cloud has already developed

 

The silo building was surprisingly still standing, to some degree.

 

 

The half that was on the explosion side is gone

[Yama]

Concrete silos are tough MFs, there is a case of one still standing in Bosnia after 4 years of being on the frontline and being fired on everyday. It was even repairable. Architects would know the cause, but I suspect circular footprint has something to do with it, there is no "single point of failure" as with buildings with a square footprint.

Oh yeah. In my hometown few years ago they decided to demolish some derelict grain silos from the old harbour. "No problem" said the demolition company, "we'll blow them up". They wired up the explosives, pressed the button, kaboom, nothing. "Err...we'll try again". Another boom - nothing. And another.The silo was just leaning a bit. Seriously, they went through like TEN explosions before they finally were toppled by an excavator which grinded through the remaining base structures.

They said that amount of steel reinforcements in the concrete was just insane - even after they had destroyed all the concrete with explosives and spiking robot, the damn thing was still standing on the iron skeleton (leaning, like famous tower of Pisa, but not down).

[Jeff]

Ouch.

 

[MiloMorai]

Before and after photos, https://www.bing.com/images/blob?bcid=SOvq5eNUsaQBSQ

[lucklucky]

#Hezbollah kept three metric tons of ammonium nitrate, the explosive thought to be behind the mega blast in #Beirut this week, in a storehouse in London, until MI5 and the London Metropolitan Police found it in 2015.

 

Report by @LahavHarkov https://t.co/oGBBZRMHz0

Hezbollah kept three metric tons of ammonium nitrate, the explosive thought to be behind the mega blast in Beirut this week, in a storehouse in London, until MI5 and the London Metropolitan Police found it in 2015.

The Lebanese terrorist group also stored hundreds of kilograms of ammonium nitrate in southern Germany, which were uncovered earlier this year.

The Iran-backed terrorists kept the explosive in thousands of ice packs in four properties in northwest London, according to a report in The Telegraph last year. The ice pack deception tactic was used in Germany, as well.

 

 

— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) August 5, 2020

[lucklucky]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/09/iran-linked-terrorists-caught-stockpiling-explosives-north-west/

 

 

 

Terrorists linked to Iran were caught stockpiling tonnes of explosive materials on the outskirts of London in a secret British bomb factory, The Telegraph can reveal.

Radicals linked to Hizbollah, the Lebanese militant group, stashed thousands of disposable ice packs containing ammonium nitrate - a common ingredient in homemade bombs.

The plot was uncovered by MI5 and the Metropolitan Police in the autumn of 2015, just months after the UK signed up to the Iran nuclear deal. Three metric tonnes of ammonium nitrate was discovered - more than was used in the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people and damaged hundreds of buildings.

[lucklucky]

https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/experts-split-impact-germanys-hezbollah-ban

 

 

Israeli media reported that the country’s intelligence agencies provided their German counterparts crucial information on Hezbollah’s activities in Germany.

“This decision, which is a dramatic departure from Berlin’s previous policy, was made based on intel from [the Israeli intelligence agency] Mossad to Germany’s intelligence service BND that some Hezbollah affiliates were stashing big volumes of ammonium nitrate, a material used to make explosives, in various warehouses in the south of Germany,” said Meir Javedanfar, a Middle East expert at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel.