Ports refusing entry to ship with 20,000 tons of ammonium nitrate – NYT

A damaged cargo ship carrying Russian fertilizer has been stranded off the coast of northern Europe for weeks amid fears that the 20,000 tons of ammonium nitrate on board could explode.

According to a report in the New York Times, the UK has been stalling in response to a request for it to dock and undergo repairs, while authorities in several EU nations have expressed fears that the vessel may be a “Trojan horse, sent to sabotage shipping and port infrastructure” in the area.

MV Ruby, registered in Malta and managed by UAE-based Serenity Shipping, left the Russian port of Kandalaksha for Africa in August. The vessel ran aground in a storm, sustaining damage to its hull, rudder and propeller, and asked to head to Malta for repairs, but was told it could do so only if it offloaded its cargo first. It then attempted to dock in Norway in early September, where port inspectors confirmed the damage, but deemed the ship seaworthy and instructed it to depart, citing hazardous cargo.

The vessel has subsequently been denied entry by Swedish, Danish and Lithuanian ports. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis claimed that as the ship is carrying cargo from Russia – an “unfriendly international actor” – the country could not be sure that it does not have “malicious” intent. 

Lithuania’s former ambassador to the UK, Eitvydas Bajarunas, labeled the vessel a “floating megabomb” in an opinion piece for CEPA, a US arms industry funded pressure group, warning that it could be part of Russia’s “hybrid warfare” against the West.

British news media picked up the narrative, with The Spectator claiming that the vessel had “systematically attempted” to sail close to critical European energy and military infrastructure. Other outlets warned that the ship could be a risk to any port it enters, recalling the tragedy in Lebanon in 2020, when ammonium nitrate stored at a port warehouse exploded, killing more than 200 people and injuring some 6,000. That blast was caused by roughly seven times less ammonium nitrate than is on board MV Ruby.

The vessel has been anchored just outside UK territorial waters for over a week. It has asked to dock so it can transfer its cargo to another vessel and undergo repairs. However, the UK authorities have not yet responded to its request, the ship owners said in a statement to the NYT.

In a press statement on Friday, a spokesperson for the ship’s owners blamed the problems on media attention.

“There has been considerable media speculation surrounding the bulk carrier Ruby… Due to the media speculation that has surrounded this vessel, port terminals in the UK are reticent to take the vessel in,” he stated, while stressing that ammonium nitrate is a “commonly transported cargo,” which “poses no threat to the ship, crew or surrounding environment.”