Mozambique: Beira port says it prohibits unloading of bulk ammonium nitrate

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Beira port says it prohibits unloading of bulk ammonium nitrate

3:58 CAT | 07 Aug 2020

The MV Rhosus arrived at the port of Beirut in 2013 carrying 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. [File photo: EPA/Tony Vrailas/Marinetraffic.com]

The company managing the Mozambican port of Beira clarified on Thursday that it prohibits the unloading of bulk ammonium nitrate at its facilities, again reiterating that it has no knowledge of the operation of a ship whose cargo may have caused the explosions in the Lebanon.

“In the specific case of the Port of Beira, the bulk unloading and storage in the port operator’s warehouses [of ammonium nitrate] is expressly prohibited,” a clarification from Cornelder distributed yesterday to the press reads.

The company reiterates that it was not aware that the ship carrying 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a cargo that may have caused the explosions at the port of Beirut on Tuesday, was destined for Mozambique.

A source from the Maritime Transport Agency of the Ministry of Economy of Georgia confirmed on Wednesday to EFE News Agency that the vessel carrying ammonium nitrate was destined for Mozambique, but that it docked at the port of Beirut due to mechanical problems, with the cargo being confiscated and stored for several years in the Lebanese capital.

“This cargo held in Beirut left the port of Batumi for Mozambique [Port of Beira] on board the freighter ‘Rhosus’, with the Moldovan flag,” a representative of the Maritime Agency of the Georgian Ministry of Economy said, adding that ” cargo transportation, processing and storage are the prerogatives of the receiving country and not the exporting country”.

On Wednesday, Lusa also contacted the Mozambican Ministry of Transport and Communications, which also said it had not been informed about the operation of a ship with these characteristics that year.

In Thursday’s statement, the Beira port management company reiterates that it had not been notified of the operation, adding that any ships willing to dock there must announce themselves 7 to 15 days in advance, and that the entry of the product [ammonium nitrate] in the country requires authorisation from the authorities.

“In the case of ships carrying ammonium nitrate calling at the Port of Beira, the port operator observes all the security measures required in handling a cargo considered dangerous, including the presence of the Fire Department, and restriction of vehicles and people outside the operation. The presence of flammable materials within the perimeter of the pier where the operation takes place is also prohibited,” adds the note from Cornelder, which has been the Port of Beira concessionaire since 1998.

Two successive blasts rocked Beirut on Tuesday, causing at least 137 deaths and more than 5,000 injuries, according to the latest assessment by Lebanese authorities. The violent explosions are thought to have been caused by explosive materials confiscated and stored in the port of the Lebanese capital for several years.

Lebanese capital governor Marwan Abboud says that up to 300,000 people have been made homeless by the explosions.

Source: Lusa