The devastating explosion at Beirut on 4^th August 2020 resulted in 181 deaths, 6000+ injuries and left more than 300,000 people homeless.

Ammonium nitrate was loaded on vessel MV Rhousus which sailed from Georgia in Sept 2013 and called at port of Beirut for additional cargo of machineries on the way to Mozambique. As there was damage to the vessel during loading operation the vessel was found unseaworthy and detained at Beirut port.  After a legal battle on non-payment of crew wages and port dues the cargo was brought to shore warehouse in 2014.

Customs officials had sent many requests to the authorities regarding the safety of the cargo. One of the letters sent in 2016 said

In view of the serious danger of keeping these goods in the hangar in unsuitable climatic conditions, we reaffirm our request to please request the marine agency to re-export these goods immediately to preserve the safety of the port and those working in it, or to look into agreeing to sell this amount” to the Lebanese Explosives Company.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/officials-knew-danger-beirut-port-years-200805032416684.html

What triggered the explosion is still not known though speculations are there about workers doing hot work on the door of the warehouse and to some bags of fireworks in the warehouse etc., only the final investigation report may be able to pinpoint the actual cause.

How did the industry respond to this event?

The shockwave of Beirut explosion rang alarm bells across the industry which made many to wake up and look at their backyard for dangerous goods and other chemicals lying in the storage areas. Some ports were asked by authorities to take a stock of all dangerous goods in their jurisdiction and to relook at the ports’ operating procedures for mitigating risks.

Dangerous cargoes temporarily in the port area as part of the transport chain are not considered as being stored as their presence is solely concerned with awaiting loading onto and further onward movement by another mode of transport.

IMO Recommendations on The Safe Transport of Dangerous Cargoes And Related Activities In Port Areas

As per news reports large quantities of ammonium nitrate is stored in various ports. Dakar, Senegal, has 3000 tons, Chennai, India 740 tons in containers, Port of Aden 100 containers and some quantity of AN at Baghdad airport.

Chittagong Port Authority has initiated a committee to see the status of dangerous goods in port and asked all unclaimed dangerous goods lying in the port areas to be auctioned off.

Directorate General of Shipping, India, has asked all stakeholders to strictly comply with the provisions of IMDG Code. DGS circular recalls the incidents at Port of Tianjin, China on August 12, 2015 & Port of Texas City, Texas, at Galveston Bay, USA on April 16, 1947.

The circular further states “To avoid such occurrences during the preparation, storage, handling & shipment of dangerous goods, all stake holders including ships, ports, customs, warehouses, master of vessels, seafarers, stevedores, transporters, etc., are advised to strictly comply with the provisions of the IMDG Code including its supplement containing the EmS Guide and Medical First Aid Guide for all cargoes listed as dangerous goods.”

Kolkata Port has reminded the port users for strict compliance to IMDG Code and local fire safety and security measures.

Shanghai transportation commission has started inspection of dangerous goods at Port of Shanghai. Inspection will check dangerous goods at all ports within Shanghai including various operations areas and companies handling these goods.

Egypt is bringing a new customs procedure for preventing abandonment of dangerous goods.

Maritime Union of Australia has urged the government to tighten the regulations for better safety and security. Measures suggested restrictions on flag of convenience vessels with concerns on their operational safety and security checks on the crew on board. The Union further said to have Australian flagged/crewed vessels after proper training and security verification for carriage of high consequence dangerous goods.

Sri Lanka Ports Authority gave assurance to all port users and general public about the safe handling of dangerous goods in ports of Sri Lanka.

Are we lacking regulatory guidelines to prevent future disasters?

Regulatory authorities may wish to regulate the storage of such substances but that would be achieved by other regulations unconnected with the transportation process.

IMO Recommendations on The Safe Transport of Dangerous Cargoes And Related Activities In Port Areas

IMDG Code is for the safety of life at sea and prevention of marine pollution. The Code is amplification of Chapter VII Part A (Carriage of dangerous goods in packaged form) of SOLAS Convention & Annex III (Regulations for the prevention of pollution by harmful substances carried by sea in packaged form) of MARPOL convention.

Carriage of dangerous goods on board ships require each vessel to have a DOC (Document of Compliance) which authorizes what goods are allowed in which cargo holds or on weather decks. DOC is issued in pursuance of the requirement of regulation II-2/19.4 of SOLAS Convention.

IMO’s Revised Recommendations on The Safe Transport of Dangerous Cargoes And Related Activities In Port Areas makes a distinction between keeping and storage.

The recommendations say “Dangerous cargoes temporarily in the port area as part of the transport chain are not considered as being stored as their presence is solely concerned with awaiting loading onto and further onward movement by another mode of transport. Because this is an operation covered by the Recommendations, the term “keeping” is included in the overall definition of handling. Storage, which involves the holding of substances for an indeterminate period not directly involved with the transportation process, is considered to be outside the scope of these Recommendations and has been excluded from the definitions. Regulatory authorities may wish to regulate the storage of such substances but that would be achieved by other regulations unconnected with the transportation process.”

The UN News article “How can the UN help prevent another Beirut disaster?”  reminds us about long circulating guidelines and regulations for transport of dangerous goods including ILO’s Code of Practice on Safety and Health in Ports. Further the article highlights the responsibility of governments around the world to identify risks which is included in Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The essence of the Sendai Framework is about shifting attention from responding to disasters, to changing behaviour, so that we can mitigate risks from disasters before they hit and, in doing so, reducing deaths and economic loss, and make it more likely that we will achieve sustainable development, in short, it’s about prevention and building resilience for the future.

Mami Mizutori head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/08/1070582

UNECE Press release says “We must not wait for the next ammonium nitrate blast – solutions exist to improve safety” and reminds us about Industrial Accidents Convention,  Safety Guidelines and Good Practices,   Industrial Accident Notification System .