(Nicosia) Cypriot police said on Thursday that they had questioned a Russian after the publication of information linking this individual to the boat which had transported the 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate whose explosion devastated Beirut.
Posted on August 6 2020 at 10 h 10
France Media Agency
“The Lebanese authorities asked us to locate this individual and ask him questions, which we did,” a police spokesperson told AFP.
“His answers were sent to Lebanon”, he added, specifying that this man, Igor Grechouchkine, had not been arrested but only questioned about the cargo of the ship at the request of the office of Interpol in Lebanon.
Tuesday's huge explosion was triggered by a fire that broke out in a warehouse that has housed a stock of ammonium nitrate for six years, “without precautionary measures”, according to the authorities.
More than 130 people were killed, thousands injured and hundreds of thousands left homeless.
In 2013, the Rhosus, flying the Moldovan flag and coming from Georgia, made a stopover in Beirut, on its way to Mozambique, according to a Lebanese security source. With on board 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate, which can be used in the composition of certain explosives for civilian use, but also be used as fertilizer.
Mozambique's port authorities have officially denied having been notified of the possible arrival of the vessel and its cargo.
According to several media, including the New York Times, Mr. Grechouchkine had rented the boat, forced to dock in Beirut due to a hole in its hull. According to the Marine Traffic website, it arrived on 20 November 2013 and never left. He had had technical problems.
According to Lebanese security sources, while the Rhosus was in transit in Beirut, a Lebanese firm allegedly lodged a complaint against the company to which the boat belonged, pushing the local justice system to seize the boat.
The cargo was placed in a hangar and the boat, damaged, ended up sinking.
According to a statement from the Lebanese law firm Baroudi & Associates, which represents the ship's crew, the ship was supposed to carry cargo from Beirut to Jordan but the port authorities prevented the ship from loading it and leaving due to “technical faults and non-compliance with maritime safety rules”.
The firm added that the owner of the boat and those who chartered it had abandoned the four crew members to their fate. He said he warned the authorities of the “risk of explosion of the cargo on board”.
Earlier on Thursday, the Cypriot Interior Ministry denied reports that the Russian had a Cypriot passport.
According to the Cypriot newspaper Politis, Mr. Gretchouchkine lives in Limassol, an important transit commercial port in the Mediterranean, with his wife, a Russian national who holds a Cypriot passport.