The ship, the MV Rhosus, which carried the nitrate had some form with other port authorities prior to Beirut. Why was it abandoned in Beirut and not elsewhere? The crew I believe were innocent pawns and some of them including the captain/master have given some telling interviews. The captain cast doubt on the official reason for the ship being impounded and he raised a couple of pertinent points: The owner of the nitrate had apparently paid $1m for it to be shipped to Mozambique, why did the owner abandon it and not follow up with a claim for it? Why did the Lebanese not spread it on their fields as fertilizer or sell it on as such?
