Ports across Europe are salvaging badly damaged cargo ships because of their potentially explosive cargo. The cargo included a pile of Russian fertilizer, which one foreign ambassador described as a “giant floating bomb.”
But the 20,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate aboard the MV Ruby isn't the only thing giving port officials pause. Despite a much smaller shipment of the same fertilizer ingredients that devastated Beirut port in the 2020 eruption. According to the New York Times.
The 600-foot vessel, registered in Malta and owned by Maltese company Ruby Enterprises, is said to be dragging a cargo of Russian fertilizer from a Russian port along the coastline of northern Europe.
That has led some to worry that this is a Trojan horse aimed at sabotaging Europe's unprotected ports.
Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said after the country's prime minister told parliament that the ship would not be allowed to enter the port, saying: “When dealing with Russia or other international parties unfriendly to our country, this possibility is always a possibility. I have that in mind.” There.
There are similar sentiments among European leaders, with UAE administrators trying to convince the public that the ship poses no threat. It remained floating off the coast of southeastern England last week. They said, The Times said.
But they haven't gotten very far.
Ruby's voyage was almost hopeless from the beginning.
It left Russia's Kandalaksha port on the country's northwest coast in August. However, the ship ran aground soon after, and its injuries soon meant it could no longer sail to its destination in Africa, the Times reported.
Over the next few weeks, the ship sailed along the coast of Europe, searching in vain for a friendly port where it could repair and renovate the damaged infrastructure.
The Norwegian Maritime Authority said the ship was heading to Norway, where port officials seized it on the outskirts of Tromso on September 1 so inspectors could assess the damage.
“There was damage to the rudder, propeller, and some cracks in the hull,” an agency spokesperson told the Times in an email. “As far as we know, the damage has not affected the cargo on board.”
It disappeared after 3 days.
Other countries are refusing even access, fearing the unstable cargo could explode. Similar to the Beirut disaster, 2,750 pounds of the same chemical exploded in a shocking explosion, killing 190 people and causing more than $15 billion in damage. Property damage.
Ruby carries almost eight times as much.
So I headed to Lithuania. But the small Baltic nation, which also has a history of hostility with its larger neighbor, which it once occupied under the harsh flag of the Soviet Union, also refused, the Times reported.
Prime Minister Landsbergis said there was no evidence of malicious intent.
But I couldn't take the risk.
Even Malta rejected it, despite the fact that Ruby flies the Maltese flag. Officials said the Ruby could only come to shore if it removed any dangerous cargo on its own, the paper said.
So the ship headed for Britain – in an ill-timed column published by a European policy think tank, in which former Lithuanian ambassador to the UK Eitvydas Bajarunas called the ship a “floating giant bomb” and warned of Russian sabotage. It's the same as
And that was it.
“Unfortunately, due to media speculation surrounding this ship, UK port terminals are reluctant to accept this ship,” the ship's management said in a statement last week, according to the paper.
Instead, Ruby transferred the ammonium nitrate to another boat and asked it to be anchored so it could be repaired.
British authorities have not yet responded, the newspaper said.
So the ship remains offshore, refueling at sea, mired in political quagmire while waiting for its maritime purgatory to end.
