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How tons of ammonium nitrate were stranded in Beirut port for years

20 points by rectang 6y ago

rectang 6y ago
The office of the Director of Customs wrote six letters requesting removal over several years, but didn't get a response. It looks like the Port Authority was responsible but there may be court orders involved. We now know how the ammonium nitrate got there — a Russian ship bound for Mozambique which ran out of money and got stranded — but we don't yet know exactly why it was never removed.
- chub500 6y ago
  I guess I don't understand why Lebanon couldn't seize it and resell?
  - csense 6y ago
    From the article, the port officials thought they needed a court order to sell it. And the court system ignored their request for one. But maybe they were applying to the wrong official, or in the wrong way? For example, maybe they were supposed to have an attorney file a court case, instead of having an agency head send a letter to a judge? I have no idea how Lebanon's law system works.
chrisco255 6y ago
This material is commonly used in IEDs. Was this depot being used to funnel these materials to supply certain groups?
- corin_ 6y ago
  There's no evidence or even speculation (outside of random people guessing) that there was anything terrorism related (I assume that's what you were implying) going on with why it was there. Just corrupt and/or useless people in the jobs that should have removed this problem from the port a long time ago. No doubt inquiries will go on for some time looking at where the fault lies.
  - chrisco255 6y ago
    This country is known for terrorism, car bombs, assassinations, and broad violence. So this amount of bomb making material sat unused for 6 years with no illicit organizations or groups hearing about it or taking advantage of it? Were regular inventory checks performed on it? What safe guards were in place to prevent the material from leaking into terrorist hands?
sradman 6y ago
> Maintenance was conducted on the warehouse door just hours before the blast on Tuesday, he added. This looks like a key piece of evidence. Warehouse door maintenance could have caused the fire seen at the start of the videos of the incident. Until more evidence is revealed I think “warehouse with 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate caught fire” is a good hypothesis. Coulda, shoulda, and speculating about motivations can come later.

20 points by rectang 6y ago

The office of the Director of Customs wrote six letters requesting removal over several years, but didn't get a response. It looks like the Port Authority was responsible but there may be court orders involved. We now know how the ammonium nitrate got there — a Russian ship bound for Mozambique which ran out of money and got stranded — but we don't yet know exactly why it was never removed.

chub500 6y ago
I guess I don't understand why Lebanon couldn't seize it and resell?
- csense 6y ago
  From the article, the port officials thought they needed a court order to sell it. And the court system ignored their request for one. But maybe they were applying to the wrong official, or in the wrong way? For example, maybe they were supposed to have an attorney file a court case, instead of having an agency head send a letter to a judge? I have no idea how Lebanon's law system works.

chrisco255 6y ago

This material is commonly used in IEDs. Was this depot being used to funnel these materials to supply certain groups?

corin_ 6y ago
There's no evidence or even speculation (outside of random people guessing) that there was anything terrorism related (I assume that's what you were implying) going on with why it was there. Just corrupt and/or useless people in the jobs that should have removed this problem from the port a long time ago. No doubt inquiries will go on for some time looking at where the fault lies.
- chrisco255 6y ago
  This country is known for terrorism, car bombs, assassinations, and broad violence. So this amount of bomb making material sat unused for 6 years with no illicit organizations or groups hearing about it or taking advantage of it? Were regular inventory checks performed on it? What safe guards were in place to prevent the material from leaking into terrorist hands?

sradman 6y ago

> Maintenance was conducted on the warehouse door just hours before the blast on Tuesday, he added. This looks like a key piece of evidence. Warehouse door maintenance could have caused the fire seen at the start of the videos of the incident. Until more evidence is revealed I think “warehouse with 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate caught fire” is a good hypothesis. Coulda, shoulda, and speculating about motivations can come later.