The Russian cargo ship Rhosus, which in September 2013 brought 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate to Lebanon, a cargo which is suspected to have triggered the deadly blasts that killed over 100 people in Beirut on Tuesday, was registered in Moldova.

“For six years now, the vessel has not been under a Moldovan naval flag any more. In February 2014, the Moldovan license expired and the owner did not renew it and abandoned the ship and the crew [in Beirut],” Zaharia said. He added that the cargo that was being transported by the Rhosus was taken off the ship in Beirut in 2014 and transported to a warehouse in the city’s harbour. Zaharia said that the Moldovan company that acted for the foreign owner in the registration process was Geoship Company SRL, which was owned according to the Moldovan company register by Cypriot citizen Manoli Charalambos, the director of Acheon Akti Navigation from Limassol in Cyprus. Charalambos could not immediately be reached for a comment.