A Malta-flagged cargo ship loaded with 20,000 tons of potentially explosive material has departed from a port in Norway to undergo repairs.
The Ruby picked up the cargo of ammonium nitrate on August 22 from Russia’s northern port of Kandalaksha, and docked at the industrial port of Tromsø on Tuesday before noon after seeking refuge from a storm, Norwegian publication The Barents Observer reported.
The vessel was reportedly headed to Las Palmas in the Atlantic, but docked in Norway after receiving approval from the military. The tanker had sustained damage to its propeller, hull and rudder.
The Ruby was ordered by police to depart away from inhabited areas to Vannøya, located north of Tromsø, as concerns spread about its potentially hazardous cargo, the publication said. It added that the port where the Ruby initially docked is located near to a university campus, a university hospital, and hundreds of residential homes.
Tromsø police said in a statement on Tuesday evening that it was “not desirable” for the ship to undergo repairs “close to the city of Tromsø.”
The tanker departed from the NATO port, accompanied by two tug boats, at around 2 a.m. on Wednesday, the publication reported. The latest update from Vessel Finder says the ship departed for Vannøya and was expected to arrive by 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Ammonium nitrate, which is used in fertilizer and explosives, has been responsible for a number of incidents, including the 2020 Beirut explosion, which saw a large quantity of the substance stored at the Port of Beirut in Lebanon explode, killing at least 218 people. In 2015, in Tianjin, northern China, 173 people were killed and hundreds more were injured in a series of ammonium nitrate explosions.
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Russia is one of the world’s largest exporters of ammonium nitrate, accounting for about two-thirds of the world’s annual 20 million metric tons ammonium nitrate production, according to financial services company S&P Global.
When Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, the country temporarily banned the export of ammonium nitrate to support domestic farmers, as fertilizer prices rose globally.
“Additional demand has arisen on the domestic market for ammonium nitrate from both agricultural producers and industrial businesses,” Russia’s Ministry of Agriculture said at the time.
Tromsø police said Tuesday evening that, “under normal transport and storage conditions, ammonium nitrate is a stable chemical compound.”
“At the same time, under given conditions and external influences such as fire, it can be explosive,” a statement said.
The Barents Observer noted that the Ruby is carrying seven times more ammonium nitrate than the 2,750 tons that exploded in Beirut in 2020. The cargo would likely have to be temporarily unloaded should repairs require the vessel to dock anywhere in the country, the publication said.
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