A cargo ship carrying 20,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, dubbed by British media as a “floating bomb,” has recently docked at Great Yarmouth in the U.K., a NATO ally. A Newsweek map shows its journey so far.
The Malta-flagged cargo ship, MV Ruby, began its journey in Russia’s northern port of Kandalaksha on August 22 and initially attempted to reach Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic, as reported previously by Newsweek,
However, after suffering storm damage to its hull and propeller en route, the ship, built in 2012, sought refuge for repairs at several ports across Europe, before docking at the industrial port of Tromsø in Norway on September 3. The ship then departed on September 4 because of concerns over safety due to the ammonium nitrate cargo.
These concerns also led to docking refusals from multiple European countries, including Sweden, Lithuania, and Malta, before the ship’s recent arrival near Great Yarmouth​ in Norfolk, England. A Newsweek map shows the journey of the bulk carrier so far.
As reported by Lloyd’s List, the port of Great Yarmouth will let Ruby berth to transship its ammonium nitrate on Monday.
Ammonium nitrate is a potentially explosive substance used in fertilizer and bombs. According to Marine Traffic, the ship’s length overall (LOA) is 183 meters and its width is 27.8 meters. As reported by Newsweek, the quantity of the cargo on the ship is over seven times the amount that exploded at the Port of Beirut in Lebanon in 2020, killing at least 218 people.
As reported by Maritime News, “around 2,750 tons of the same compound caused the infamous blast in Beirut in 2020. For context, the MV Ruby contains 20,000 tons of the compound.”
The same report confirmed that “MV Ruby has received permission from the U.K. government and the Ministry of Transport to dock at the port of Great Yarmouth. The port’s director, Richard Goffin, has assured that the port has the capability to handle dangerous cargo, and the transshipment of such chemicals is common practice across the port group.”
British authorities, along with the ship’s UAE-based management, Serenity Ship Management DMCC, are now actively monitoring the vessel and have been in discussions about the potential off-loading to reduce risks.
Serenity Ship Management said it agreed with Peel Ports Group, which runs the Great Yarmouth facility, for Ruby to discharge the cargo, as reported by Lloyd’s List.
The damaged bulker will transship the 20,000 tons to another ship, bound for Africa, then proceed to dry dock for repairs.
The vessel’s presence raised alarms, particularly because it was at one point anchored about 30 miles from the WWII-era “Doomsday” wreck of SS Richard Montgomery, which itself contains a substantial amount of unexploded munitions, as reported previously by Newsweek.
Ruby’s owner and manager have said the fears about the “floating bomb,” as it has been called by British media, are unfounded, Newsweek reported.
They said media coverage has had a prejudicial effect on the vessel’s ability to undertake routine operations to transfer the cargo to another ship so it can be repaired.
In a statement they said that ammonium nitrate “is a commonly transported cargo by this method and poses no threat to the ship, crew or surrounding environment in the vessel’s current state.”
In the statement, as reported by The Isle of Thanet News, Serenity Ship Management said: “The vessel’s cargo poses no risk to the surrounding area in its present state.”
Newsweek reached out to the Great Yarmouth Port Authority via email on Monday for comment.
“The owners and managers of the Ruby would like to take this opportunity to thank the U.K. authorities for their support throughout the vessels stay in U.K. territorial waters,” read the statement, “while we express gratitude to Peel Ports Group for accommodating our request to complete a transshipment at Great Yarmouth.”