Beirut 2020: The Cargo Nobody Moved
Descrição
In August 2020, about 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded at the Port of Beirut. The cargo had arrived by ship in 2013, bound for Mozambique, and stayed for almost seven years. Customs, the army, ministers and security services were all informed. This case file follows the paper trail: the ship that never left, the warehouse, the letters, and the last warning that arrived on the day of the blast.
No official final report on the cause has been published. This video sticks to what the documents and investigations show, and says clearly where the evidence stops.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Cold open
00:51 A ship that never left
01:56 The cargo
03:04 Hangar 12
04:08 Letters to nowhere
05:19 The last warning
06:16 August 4th, 6:08 pm
07:32 The cost
08:37 What failed
09:47 What changed
11:06 Outro
SOURCES
Human Rights Watch, "They Killed Us From the Inside" (2021)
Lebanese official documents, translated by Human Rights Watch
Reuters, reports on the July 2020 warning (2020) and the FBI assessment (2021)
OCCRP, investigation into the cargo's ownership
World Bank, EU and UN, Beirut Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (2020)
Municipality of Beirut and UN-Habitat, Rapid Assessment (2020)
World Health Organization, situation reports (2020)
USGS, seismic event us6000b9bx
Pilger et al., Scientific Reports (2021)
Rigby et al., Shock Waves (2020)
UK Health and Safety Executive, guidance on ammonium nitrate
US Chemical Safety Board
ICHCA, report on the UNECE/OECD seminar on ammonium nitrate (2021)
TIMEP, timeline of the Beirut port investigations (2026)
Naharnet (2026)
International Maritime Organization, IMDG Code
IMAGE CREDITS
Real-case images (Wikimedia Commons):
Port of Beirut, 2017, and MV Rhosus at Beirut: HJP11 / Wikidrinker, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified)
MV Rhosus, Istanbul, 2011: Frank Behrends, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified)
Port of Beirut from the ISS (closeup): NASA / Ain92, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified)
Port of Beirut, 9 August 2020, CBERS-4A image: INPE, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified)
Damage map: NASA Earth Observatory / EOS / NASA-JPL / Caltech; contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2020); © OpenStreetMap contributors (cropped). NASA does not endorse this video.
Beirut port and street after the explosion: Mahdi Shojaeian, CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
Beirut port silos, 2021: Hassan Bahsoun, CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
West, Texas, 2013: Shane Torgerson, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized, unmodified)
Port of Chennai: Saiphani02, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified)
Illustrative images:
Hamburg port by night: Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified)
Rusty metal door: Luís F. F. A. Gaspar, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified)
Empty warehouse: Sergej Majboroda (Poly Haven), CC0
Stock video and photos: Pixabay (Pixabay Content License)
Diagrams, maps and the class 5.1 label: Hazard Manifest (original artwork)
Thumbnail: based on the CBERS-4A image by INPE, CC BY-SA 4.0; the thumbnail is released under CC BY-SA 4.0.
SOUND
Sound effects (Freesound, CC0): Tissman, eddies2000, interstellarcat, NenadSimic.
Music: YouTube Audio Library.
Narration: synthetic voice (Amazon Polly).
Researched and written by Vinícius Monteiro, specialist in chemical and IMO dangerous goods logistics.
logisticaquimica.com
Hazard Manifest: the dangerous side of global trade.
No official final report on the cause has been published. This video sticks to what the documents and investigations show, and says clearly where the evidence stops.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Cold open
00:51 A ship that never left
01:56 The cargo
03:04 Hangar 12
04:08 Letters to nowhere
05:19 The last warning
06:16 August 4th, 6:08 pm
07:32 The cost
08:37 What failed
09:47 What changed
11:06 Outro
SOURCES
Human Rights Watch, "They Killed Us From the Inside" (2021)
Lebanese official documents, translated by Human Rights Watch
Reuters, reports on the July 2020 warning (2020) and the FBI assessment (2021)
OCCRP, investigation into the cargo's ownership
World Bank, EU and UN, Beirut Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (2020)
Municipality of Beirut and UN-Habitat, Rapid Assessment (2020)
World Health Organization, situation reports (2020)
USGS, seismic event us6000b9bx
Pilger et al., Scientific Reports (2021)
Rigby et al., Shock Waves (2020)
UK Health and Safety Executive, guidance on ammonium nitrate
US Chemical Safety Board
ICHCA, report on the UNECE/OECD seminar on ammonium nitrate (2021)
TIMEP, timeline of the Beirut port investigations (2026)
Naharnet (2026)
International Maritime Organization, IMDG Code
IMAGE CREDITS
Real-case images (Wikimedia Commons):
Port of Beirut, 2017, and MV Rhosus at Beirut: HJP11 / Wikidrinker, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified)
MV Rhosus, Istanbul, 2011: Frank Behrends, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified)
Port of Beirut from the ISS (closeup): NASA / Ain92, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified)
Port of Beirut, 9 August 2020, CBERS-4A image: INPE, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified)
Damage map: NASA Earth Observatory / EOS / NASA-JPL / Caltech; contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2020); © OpenStreetMap contributors (cropped). NASA does not endorse this video.
Beirut port and street after the explosion: Mahdi Shojaeian, CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
Beirut port silos, 2021: Hassan Bahsoun, CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
West, Texas, 2013: Shane Torgerson, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized, unmodified)
Port of Chennai: Saiphani02, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified)
Illustrative images:
Hamburg port by night: Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified)
Rusty metal door: Luís F. F. A. Gaspar, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified)
Empty warehouse: Sergej Majboroda (Poly Haven), CC0
Stock video and photos: Pixabay (Pixabay Content License)
Diagrams, maps and the class 5.1 label: Hazard Manifest (original artwork)
Thumbnail: based on the CBERS-4A image by INPE, CC BY-SA 4.0; the thumbnail is released under CC BY-SA 4.0.
SOUND
Sound effects (Freesound, CC0): Tissman, eddies2000, interstellarcat, NenadSimic.
Music: YouTube Audio Library.
Narration: synthetic voice (Amazon Polly).
Researched and written by Vinícius Monteiro, specialist in chemical and IMO dangerous goods logistics.
logisticaquimica.com
Hazard Manifest: the dangerous side of global trade.
Palavra-chave: beira moçambique
