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Comment by _underfl0w_ | Hacker News Reader

Tangential to the primary issue, but TFA mentions the crew being detained on the ship for 10 months after docking, which is absolutely mind-blowing. I assume they weren't completely oblivious to the contents of their cargo. Imagine not only sailing, but then trying to sleep for ten extra months aboard a ship carrying thousands of pounds of explosive fertilizer. Insane.

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hell we just did it with crews of many cruise ships in the US and likely elsewhere[0] the numbers being over 100,000 in total. Most were stranded in US ports because of arduous restrictions by the CDC and the home countries of the crewmen.

So yeah, it might not be an explosive but being trapped on ships with a potential to be sick isn't exactly fun. Sadly a lot of this has to do with out of sight out of mind, these crews are not generally seen by people even though when out on a cruise you physically see them each day.

[0]https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/ar...

This sounds like the worst game of "would you rather?" ever. Explosive cargo ship abandoned by the world or plague cruise ship abandoned by the world.

At least with the COVID-19 ships there was a reasonable public health argument for not letting people off the ship.

Thousands of tons of explosives.

That said, I believe the article mentions the nitrates being removed during that time.

I wonder why the crew had to remain onboard for 10 months. Were they being held for the debts? Could they not afford to fly out? They didn't have to stay in Lebanon if it was a question of visas or what-have-you.

It happens fairly regularly, they typically have no money or visa to enter the country.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/dec/20/s...

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