The situation is difficult if the ship remains at sea for a long time and the weather worsens, says the expert.
The situation of a damaged cargo ship approaching the Baltic Sea is exceptional.
Åbo Akademi’s professor of maritime law Henrik Ringbom according to which a dangerous ship can be denied access to ports.
– Ships do not have the right to enter the port. Even in emergency situations, the obligation of coastal states to let a ship into an emergency port extends only to saving human lives, Ringbom states.
The reason is its dangerous cargo.
The vessel named MV Ruby carries 20,000 tons of ammonium nitrate cargo. 2,750 tons of the same fertilizer caused a devastating explosion in the port of Beirut four years ago. Ruby’s cargo is thus sevenfold.
Ammonium nitrate is an insensitive explosive, which means that something must be mixed with it to explode.
The ship set off in August from Kantalahti, Russia, on the Kola Peninsula.
The passage of the ship to the Baltic Sea can also be prevented
According to Marinetraffic, the ship was on Friday evening on the southern coast of Norway towards the straits between Denmark and Sweden. The ship’s destination is marked as Klaipeda in Lithuania.
The ship cannot travel to the Baltic Sea via Juutinrauma, as the ship’s draft of ten meters exceeds the permitted limit of seven meters, according to the Swedish Pilotage Institute For Expressen magazine.
An alternative route could pass through the Iso-Belt strait, but according to Ringbom, it is a completely different matter whether Denmark has an obligation to allow such a vessel to pass through the strait.
– According to my understanding, in such a case, Denmark could deny passage based on the security risk. If this were to happen, it could lead to quite a large legal debate, says Ringbom.
In Ringbom’s opinion, if the ship did not obey the ban, it could ultimately be stopped, even by force. According to Ringbom, Denmark can also require the ship to anchor somewhere safe until things are sorted out.
The ship can stay at sea for a tour
In Lithuania, the local authorities are the Swedish public broadcasting company according to SVT banned the vessel from entering the country.
If no other port accepts it, according to Ringbom, it could lead to an unpleasant situation where the ship has to go around for a long time before it finds a place to repair the damage and transfer the cargo safely.
– The situation is difficult if the ship remains at sea for a long time and the weather worsens.
The cargo ship flies under the flag of Malta and, according to Ringbom, the flag state can challenge the decision if, for example, the ship is asked to anchor somewhere.
The flag state has an obligation to ensure that all its ships comply with international standards. According to Ringbom, however, a more common starting point is that the ship’s owner, i.e. the shipping company, is responsible for everything related to the operation of the ship and shipping.
There is a problem with liability for damages
In the event of damage, payment of compensation is primarily the responsibility of the ship owner.
However, according to Ringbom, ships have the right to limit the compensation liability of the ship owner to a moderate total amount. It means that in a really big accident, the compensation liability would not be enough to cover the damages.
– For example, a different system has been developed for oil tankers to compensate for damages, but there is no such system for this type of transport.
However, according to Ringbom, it is common for such cargoes of fertilizer to be transported as cargo on ships.
According to Ringbom, the condition of the ship and the world situation make the situation exceptional.
– Now there is a very special situation with Russian trade and sanctions, where all traffic between Russian ports and the rest of the world is exceptional.
According to Ringbom, one of the biggest interests in this situation is also the owner of the cargo, who can demand that he get his cargo back or have it moved somewhere else.
According to Ringbom, it would be best if a safe harbor could be found somewhere closer to the flag state where the ship could get to.