The fertilizer ship MV Ruby stopped in the English Channel | News in brief

The journey of the damaged cargo ship Ruby to the

According to Marinetraffic, the vessel is currently at anchor near the coast of Kent.

The damaged cargo ship MV Ruby carrying dangerous fertilizer is currently docked in the English Channel.

On Tuesday, the partially unmanageable ship set off from the coast of Norway towards Malta, under whose flag it sails.

Following shipping Marinetraffic website however, the ship stopped in the English Channel on Wednesday afternoon.

The website shows the ship is currently at anchor about 120 kilometers east of London, off the coast of Kent.

Destination still unclear

On the Marinetraffic website, MV Ruby still states that its destination is Malta.

Malta Today magazine however, reported on Tuesday that the cargo ship will not have access to the port until the potentially dangerous ammonium nitrate cargo carried by the ship has been unloaded.

Ruby has a total of 20,000 tons of ammonium nitrate in her cargo.

– The ship can only enter the port in Malta if it unloads its cargo. If this does not happen, it will not reach Malta’s territorial waters, the representative of the port told the newspaper.

2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate caused a devastating explosion in the port of Beirut four years ago. Ruby’s cargo is thus seven times the amount that exploded in Beirut.

However, ammonium nitrate is an insensitive explosive, which means that something must be mixed with it to explode.

The MV Ruby ship started its journey in October from Kantalahti, Russia, on the Kola Peninsula. However, the ship was damaged shortly after leaving the port, probably due to ground contact.

The ship has been trying to get repaired ever since.

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