Huge explosion in Lebanon, 4th Aug 2020

[spitfire]

I note that a number of twitter accounts are going to town on that 'veteranstoday' group - it's a Kremlin front job: tax rebates, conspiracy theories, anti-semtism, and the odd bit of 'powerful Russia/wise Putin' stuff.

Graun have posted this which may explain why the Kremlin/RT linked twitter loons are going all "Israeli nuke" crazy

A snippet, full text in Graun live feed:

"Our correspondent in Moscow, Andrew Roth, has some gripping details on the ship that brought the ammonium nitrate to Beirut:

Little is known about the Russian owner of the Rhosus, the cargo ship impounded in Beirut in 2014, whose captain had referred to its freight of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate fertiliser as a “floating bomb”.

That ammonium nitrate is believed to have fuelled the devastating explosion that has left more than 100 dead in Beirut.

Former crew members said the ship was owned by Igor Grechushkin, a Russian national believed to be living in Cyprus, where he holds either citizenship or residency. Grechushkin, a native of the far-eastern city of Khabarovsk, is reported to have managed Teto Shipping, which owned the Rhosus.

The ship arrived in Beirut in 2013 while sailing from Georgia to Mozambique. It was prevented from leaving the Beirut port in 2014 over an unspecified dispute, either because the ship was deemed not seaworthy or because the owner had failed to pay the necessary fees to the port.

It was then that Grechushkin is said to have walked away from the ship, refusing to answer calls or negotiate with the port authorities for the release of his sailors."

 

[LDC]

Subscribes to Bellingcat

I did a short OSINT research training course with them. Highly recommend it, it's enabled me to give up my job, sit back, and watch the MI6/Mossad/CIA gold buillion pour into my bank while I push the security services line on a '90s political discussion forum for middle aged lefties.

 

[LDC]

Graun have posted this which may explain why the Kremlin/RT linked twitter loons are going all "Israeli nuke" crazy

A snippet, full text in Graun live feed:

"Our correspondent in Moscow, Andrew Roth, has some gripping details on the ship that brought the ammonium nitrate to Beirut:

Little is known about the Russian owner of the Rhosus, the cargo ship impounded in Beirut in 2014, whose captain had referred to its freight of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate fertiliser as a “floating bomb”.

That ammonium nitrate is believed to have fuelled the devastating explosion that has left more than 100 dead in Beirut.

Former crew members said the ship was owned by Igor Grechushkin, a Russian national believed to be living in Cyprus, where he holds either citizenship or residency. Grechushkin, a native of the far-eastern city of Khabarovsk, is reported to have managed Teto Shipping, which owned the Rhosus.

The ship arrived in Beirut in 2013 while sailing from Georgia to Mozambique. It was prevented from leaving the Beirut port in 2014 over an unspecified dispute, either because the ship was deemed not seaworthy or because the owner had failed to pay the necessary fees to the port.

It was then that Grechushkin is said to have walked away from the ship, refusing to answer calls or negotiate with the port authorities for the release of his sailors."

Russian shipping company in unsafe practices and refusing to pay fines and running off to Cyprus shocker!

 

[spitfire]

Russian shipping company in unsafe practices and refusing to pay fines and running off to Cyprus shocker!

Say it ain't so.

 

[teqniq]

Useful links for donating for anyone so inclined whilst avoiding giving money to what passes for a government in Lebannon.

 

[platinumsage]

Russian shipping company in unsafe practices and refusing to pay fines and running off to Cyprus shocker!

I don't see how the orgins of the ship absolve the Lebanon government of any responsibility, which having sat on it for six years, is entirely theirs.

 

[cupid_stunt]

I donated to the Lebanese Red Cross, earlier today.

Home | Lebanese Red Cross - Save Lives

www.supportlrc.app

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I donated to the Lebanese Red Cross, earlier today.

Home | Lebanese Red Cross - Save Lives

www.supportlrc.app

Cheers for the link - will donate later (site seems to be not loading at the moment)

 

[existentialist]

Cheers for the link - will donate later (site seems to be not loading at the moment)

Probably being hammered flat by donations but

 

[teqniq]

I managed to donate with no issues.

 

[Sprocket.]

I donated to the Lebanese Red Cross, earlier today.

Home | Lebanese Red Cross - Save Lives

www.supportlrc.app

The Lebanese Red Cross is apparently accepting donations in Lebanese pounds or American dollars. People are being asked to donate in dollars if possible due to the state of the current Lebanese economy.

 

[LDC]

I don't see how the orgins of the ship absolve the Lebanon government of any responsibility, which having sat on it for six years, is entirely theirs.

No, luckily I never said it did.

 

[cupid_stunt]

The Lebanese Red Cross is apparently accepting donations in Lebanese pounds or American dollars. People are being asked to donate in dollars if possible due to the state of the current Lebanese economy.

I am sure it only offered me the chance to donate by dollars, maybe I missed the option of Lebanese pounds, which I certainly would not have opted for.

 

[teqniq]

Beirut blast: Tracing the explosives that tore the capital apart

Letters show officials knew of danger posed by ammonium nitrate cargo at Beirut port six years before deadly blast.

www.aljazeera.com

Governmental negligence and incompetence in spades. Though to ship owner appears to be a complete scumbag.

 

[MrSki]

So up to three hundred thousand left homeless. Is it not possible for all the empty cruise ships sitting in ports around the med to be sent there for temporary accomodation? I know there is a Covid risk from cruise ships but it could certainly help & maybe convert one or two to hospital ships. Only an idea but it could make use of resources currently doing nothing & help out in a world disaster.

 

[kebabking]

So up to three hundred thousand left homeless. Is it not possible for all the empty cruise ships sitting in ports around the med to be sent there for temporary accomodation? I know there is a Covid risk from cruise ships but it could certainly help & maybe convert one or two to hospital ships. Only an idea but it could make use of resources currently doing nothing & help out in a world disaster.

Nah, it's a great deal quicker and easier to set up tented accommodation and field hospitals on land than it is to fuck about with cruise ships - and they are also a menace when it comes to communicable disease.

 

[existentialist]

Nah, it's a great deal quicker and easier to set up tented accommodation and field hospitals on land than it is to fuck about with cruise ships - and they are also a menace when it comes to communicable disease.

A couple could possibly serve as hospital ships, though...

 

[zahir]

A couple could possibly serve as hospital ships, though...

Probably an even bigger Covid risk.

 

[Mumbles274]

Probably an even bigger Covid risk.

Still probably better than no hospital?

 

[existentialist]

I realised that there will always be an element of "someone must DO something!" about these situations, but I wonder why Dominic Raab is saying we are "poised" to send assistance, when we could make a pretty good assessment of the kind of stuff they need, and be getting on with shipping it?

Perhaps I have just become too deeply cynical of our government, but I can't help feeling that, given half the chance not to - "Oh look, France has got the water purification covered phew" - they'd shrug and walk away. Or at least be "poised" to help, in the fervent hope that they didn't have to actually commit to anything.

 

[existentialist]

Probably an even bigger Covid risk.

For the kind of people who need taking to a hospital ship, the prospect of Covid-19 is probably not their worst problem.

 

[zahir]

Still probably better than no hospital?

Possibly, but I think it might be hard to get the ventilated space to make it reasonably safe.

 

[kebabking]

A couple could possibly serve as hospital ships, though...

Not really - cleaning them is difficult, and the cabins are very small, meaning that X members of staff keeping tabs on lots of patients is difficult. Just moving equipment about from cabin to cabin is a pig. You could use them as floating accommodation for the healthy, but in the era of Covid-19, with Lebanon having appalling rates of infection, you're just putting people in a petri dish.

It's a pity, because they are available, and in the winter it night be a different equation, but in summer they are probably more trouble than they are worth.

 

[NoXion]

Why the fuck did they just sit on thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate for six bloody years? Corruption seems an inadequate explanation, I'd have thought a corrupt official would have sold it all off and pocketed the cash by now.

 

[clicker]

There must be thousands of empty hotels at the moment that could be temp repurposed?

 

[Orang Utan]

There must be thousands of empty hotels at the moment that could be temp repurposed?

Where though? Lebanon already has literally millions of refugees in tents

 

[kebabking]

HMS Enterprise to Beruit - she's in the eastern Med and is a survey ship. She can see if it's possible to chart a course through the debris in the water for big cargo vessels to get into port - she will probably also provide the imaging of the sea bed so engineers can clear channels. That however is a big, slow job.

RAF airlift to bring in SAR teams and some humanitarian supplies, once in theatre they will chop to Lebanese control for the Lebanese military to move stuff around.

RN to do force generation, based on reports from Enterprise, to produce a Bay, Albion, or Point class vessel to get to Beruit. This may not be needed as other assets and STUFT may be available and closer.

 

[clicker]

Where though? Lebanon already has literally millions of refugees in tents

Nearby countries? Airlift them out. Just a quick fix, but that's a huge number of injured needing help.

 

[Lancman]

Why the fuck did they just sit on thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate for six bloody years? Corruption seems an inadequate explanation, I'd have thought a corrupt official would have sold it all off and pocketed the cash by now.

I don't think that anybody who hasn't lived in somewhere like Beirut can imagine the complexity of the local politics and corruption. There are enormous forces involved both inside and outside the country. Just moving the stuff out of the warehouse would require getting permission from several conflicting militias and re-siting it several more.

 

[Marty1]

Explosion during photoshoot

Better video quality, but yeah - really shows the horror of the blast.