Cargo ship carrying explosive ammonium nitrate heads to UK waters

A Maltese-flagged cargo ship carrying 1000’s of tonnes of probably explosive fertiliser is about to journey via UK waters.

Ruby, which was earlier accompanied by an escort tug, has reportedly been rejected by a number of nations attributable to its cargo.

The ship, which has 20,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate on board, was beforehand broken however deemed seaworthy by authorities in Norway.

HM Coastguard is involved with the vessel, which in line with ship monitoring knowledge, was within the North Sea off the Kent coast on Thursday morning.

The ship, owned by Maltese agency Ruby Enterprise, set off from the northern Russian port of Kandalaksha in July.

The nationwide maritime emergency service stated it’s going to monitor the ship’s progress because it heads in direction of and thru UK waters.

An escorting tug, Amber II, which had sailed with the boat from Norway, left the Ruby on Thursday morning and sailed east. Its present vacation spot is listed as Rotterdam, within the Netherlands.

Although there is no such thing as a suggestion of instant hazard from the cargo, the identical chemical prompted a devastating blast at a Beirut warehouse in 2020.

Ammonium nitrate is often transported world wide and used as fertiliser however can also be utilized in explosives.

The ship is carrying seven occasions the quantity of ammonium nitrate that prompted the Beirut explosion.

Quickly after departing Russia the Ruby briefly ran aground after reportedly encountering a storm.

It then continued its journey across the Kola Peninsula and docked in Tromsø, Norway.

Norway’s Maritime Authority advised the BBC the vessel was inspected by DNV Group to make sure it met security and environmental requirements.

The group discovered harm to its hull, propeller and rudder, however the Ruby was nonetheless deemed “seaworthy”.

As a precaution, DNV Group, and the Maltese flag registry, insisted {that a} tug escort the vessel for the rest of its journey.

Regardless of this, authorities in Sweden and Lithuania have reportedly banned the ship from getting into their waters.

In current weeks, the Ruby travelled south alongside Norway’s coast and thru the North Sea.

The ship reportedly has had restricted manoeuvrability, although the BBC has been unable to verify this.

On 25 September it anchored round 15 miles (25km) north east of Margate, in Kent, close to the the Dover Strait – one of many world’s busiest waterways.

Its present vacation spot is listed as Marsaxlokk, in Malta.

However Maltese authorities have advised native media that the ship can solely enter the nation if it empties its cargo beforehand.

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