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A damaged ship carrying up to 20,000 tonnes of explosive ammonium nitrate from Russia is heading towards the UK after being turned away by other European countries.
The Maltese-flagged Ruby is approaching the south-east coast of England after leaving the Russian port of Kandalaksha last month carrying a chemical used as a fertiliser but which can explode when exposed to fire, according to maritime authorities and ship tracking group MarineTraffic.
The ship reported its destination as the Maltese fishing village of Marsaxlokk but according to Norwegian authorities, the hull was damaged after running aground.
Although there was no indication of an impending explosion, the ship raised the alarm after being instructed to stay away from ports in Norway and Lithuania, according to diplomats and intelligence experts.
It stirred memories of the horrific explosion of improperly stored ammonium nitrate in Beirut four years ago, which killed at least 200 people. Ruby was carrying seven times the explosives in the Beirut blast.
The UK Coastguard said it had been in contact with the ship and would continue to monitor its journey through British waters.
The report added that the ship was “moving under its own power, escorted by a tug” and that “the UK Coastguard has a 24/7 capability to respond to requests for assistance and ensure the safety of shipping in UK waters”.
The ship had been closely monitored since it attempted to dock at the Norwegian Arctic port of Tromsø before being moved to anchor off the coast in early September. Intelligence experts have criticised the Norwegian authorities’ approach of allowing the ship, with its dangerous cargo, to be so close to vital military and civilian infrastructure.
Russia’s use of civilian vessels to monitor critical infrastructure, such as oil and gas pipelines in the North Sea, Baltic Sea and Norwegian Sea, has caused anxiety in Nordic countries and NATO.
The country’s aging fleet of oil tankers has caused concern, particularly in Denmark and around the Baltic Sea, due to the risk of environmental disaster.
A Nordic diplomat said the Ruby could be “a great way to test the reaction of Norwegian authorities and NATO” to a dangerous ship getting into trouble in their waters as it sailed along Norway’s west coast and stopped outside Bergen, the country’s most important oil and gas base.
Finnish and Estonian authorities are separately investigating the cutting of a gas pipeline and data cable between the two countries last October by a Chinese container ship previously anchored in Russia.
The 2022 sabotage of the twin Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea has yet to be explained by officials. German prosecutors are investigating whether a Ukrainian group was behind the act, while some Nordic officials are focusing on suspicious activities by Russian military vessels around the time of the explosion.
