Moldova's Naval Agency has cleared up the ownership interests of the vessel that brought the explosive cargo to Beirut six years ago.
In an email to TradeWinds, director Igor Zaharia said the 3,226-dwt Rhosus (built 1986) was owned by Briarwood Corp and bareboat chartered to Teto Shipping, contrary to popular media reports naming Teto as the owner.
The Rhosus was detained by Lebanese authorities in 2013 and abandoned in 2014. Its cargo of 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was confiscated and stored in a nearby warehouse until it exploded last week, killing more than 170 and wounding thousands.
Zaharia said the cargoship was diverted to Beirut for repairs in November 2013 after a technical failure on board, with the intention of fixing the issue and continuing its voyage to Mozambique.
He said once in Beirut for repairs, claims were filed against the ship due to the owner's financial issues, leading to its detention and confiscation.
In February 2014, the owner then failed to pay taxes to Moldovan authorities, leading the Naval Agency to strike the Rhosus from its registry, Zaharia said.
According to attorneys for the seafarers, sometime in 2014 the ship's captain and four other crew members were able to disembark the ship with their help and the cargo was moved to the warehouse.
Briarwood Corp is listed as the Rhosus' registered owner on both the French-maintained database Equasis and the IMO's Global Integrated Shipping Information System.
The company shares a Burgas, Bulgaria address with Interfleet Shipmanagement, which is listed as the ship's manager.
Interfleet's owner, Nikolay Petrov Hristov, reportedly told Bulgarian media outlet Maritime.bg last week that Interfleet "has never entered into a contract" with Briarwood and blamed the connection on fraud he was unable to substantiate.
"In this case, we are talking about fraud and [the] falsifying of documents, which is likely the reason the ship was arrested in Beirut," he said, according to a translation obtained by TradeWinds.
Moldovan authorities identified Igor Grechushkin as the man behind Teto, who has been identified by the media as a Cyprus-based Russian businessman.
Agence Presse France reported on Friday that Grechushkin was questioned by Cypriot police at the request of Interpol Lebanon, but not arrested.
On Monday, Lebanon's cabinet resigned.
The blast came amid Covid-19-related lockdowns and an economic crisis that has seen the value of its currency plummet, pushing up the cost of the most basic goods.
The previous government, led by now-former prime minister Hassan Diab, came to power late last year.
Its next government will be its third in less than a year.
