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“I wrote to Putin every day. The owner didn’t even get us food and water.”
The ammonium nitrate cargo that caused the huge explosion in Beirut remained in the port because the crew of the ship that chartered the substance was not paid salaries and the shipping company could not even afford port dues, the Russian sea captain, who had skippered from the beginning, told the media.
According to Captain Boris Prokosev, the Rhosus, which sailed under his command, left the port of Batumi in Georgia in 2013 for Mozambique with a cargo of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, which is most commonly used as fertilizer.
However, ammonium nitrate can also be used to make explosives. However, the ship’s voyage did not go under happy stars. According to Prokosev, the conditions for the crew were blind and there was no money.
– The sailors had been on the ship for 11 months, and in the end we had almost no supplies left. I wrote to Putin every day. Eventually, we were forced to sell fuel to get money for a lawyer. The owner of the ship did not even provide us with food or water, Prokosev said in an interview with Eho Moskvi radio station.
According to Prokosev, the ship was owned by Teto Shipping, a shipping company of Igor Gretshuskin, a Russian businessman living in Cyprus. According to the captain, the company was eventually informed that there was no money and Rhosus would have to call at the port of Beirut to pick up more cargo to cover the costs.
However, the ship’s voyage completely overwhelmed Beirut, as there was no money for port dues. A crew of Russian and Ukrainian sailors also got enough of the slave labor, and left the ship.
According to news channel CNN, the sailors eventually got out of Lebanon, but they never got paid. Rhosus remained in the port, where its cargo was eventually transferred from the ship to the port warehouse.
Among other things, the customs authorities repeatedly tried over the years to get the loaded ammonium nitrate out of the port, but no one was interested.
The number of victims is rising, the rage against the regime is growing
The number of victims of the Beirut explosion is still rising. As of late Thursday, 149 deaths were already known, AFP news agency reported. A huge explosion in the port injured more than 5,000 people.
The missing are still being sought. Local authorities have estimated that the explosion left at least 300,000 people homeless. The material damage is several billion dollars.
On Thursday night, citizens ’frustration with the country’s government erupted as a demonstration in downtown Beirut. Police and security forces used tear gas against protesters, according to the country’s state news agency NNA.
According to it, some dozen protesters sought the House of Representatives. Protesters were reported to have, among other things, set fire to and threw stones at security forces.
According to the AFP, activists are trying to gather a large anti-government demonstration on Saturday. On Thursday, the government was also ousted by Tracy Chamoun, a Lebanese ambassador to Jordan who resigned in protest.
According to him, the cause of the explosion is massive negligence and corruption, says the Turkish news agency Anadolu, among others.
According to Chamoun, the politicians who led the country after the civil war that ended in 1990 should resign and new elections should be held in the country.
The administration is required to reform
Lebanon was already in economic chaos before the explosion. Unemployment, hyperinflation and corruption, among others, have plagued the country.
The value of the Lebanese currency, the lira, has plummeted and a large proportion of the country’s population lives below the poverty line. In addition, there are about 1.5 million refugees fleeing the war in Syria.
According to Anadolu, the destroyed port of Beirut is not only the most important port in the country but also a key storage area for grain, food and medical supplies.
On Thursday, a change in the country’s leadership was demanded by, among others, the President of France Emmanuel Macron and the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva.
– We must now break the deadlock in the discussions on vital reforms. A strong program is needed to change the direction of the economy and build confidence for the country’s future, Georgieva told news agency CNN.
Lebanon announced in March that it would suspend the repayment of its debts. No solution has been found in the negotiations with the IMF.