On 4th August 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the port of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, exploded. Due to the mobile nature of vessels and cargo at ports, insurance companies had little insight into their potential exposure at the time of the catastrophic event.

On 4th August 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the port of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, exploded. Due to the mobile nature of vessels and cargo at ports, insurance companies had little insight into their potential exposure at the time of the catastrophic event.

On 12 August 2015, a series of explosions at the Port of Tianjin killed 173 people, according to official reports, and injured hundreds of others. The explosions occurred at a container storage station in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin, China. The first two explosions occurred within 30 seconds of each other. The second explosion was far larger and involved the detonation of about 800 tonnes of ammonium nitrate (approx. 256 tonnes TNT equivalent). Fires caused by the initial explosions continued to burn uncontrolled throughout the weekend, resulting in eight additional explosions on 15 August.