ALMOST 1500 tonnes of chemical explosive will be shipped in and out of Botany Bay during this week's APEC summit by crews from Burma, the Philippines and eastern Europe who have undergone no background security checks.

During the biggest security operation in Australia's history, the explosives-grade ammonium nitrate, used in mining operations, will be transported to and from Port Botany, near Sydney Airport, on five unregulated vessels registered in overseas ports such as Liberia and Antigua and Barbuda.

The same material was used in the bombings in Bali in 2002 and Oklahoma City in 1995.

The 281-metre Maersk Damascus, crewed mainly by 18 men from the Philippines, arrived in Botany Bay yesterday to pick up 315 tonnes of ammonium nitrate UN1942, registered as an explosive under the Australian Dangerous Goods Code.

Tomorrow, 16 Burmese crew will steer the 221-metre Sinotrans Shanghai into Sydney, already carrying 378 tonnes of the chemical.........

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