There Rubya cargo ship with on board 20 tons of explosive materialwould anchor off the Kent (UK) waiting to receive the green light to cross the English Channel. This is a flagged vessel Maltese which, according to many, belongs to the so-called “Russian ghost fleet“, that is, a series of civilian boats flying the most disparate flags but headed to Moscow and used for monitor infrastructures And smuggling oil in the open sea.
Due to its ambiguous nationality and the potentially explosive nature of the ammonium nitrate transported, she would have been refused the possibility of docking from various countries, including Norway, Denmark and Lithuania. In fact, this substance is regularly transported for the production of fertilizers but, if exposed to fire, it can become explosive, as happened in 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon: on that occasion 3 tons of ammonium nitrate caused a violent explosion in the city port, causing 220 victims. Be careful though: even if the substance involved is the same, at the moment it seems that there are no risks on board the Ruby.
From a technical point of view, the cargo ship Ruby it’s long 183 meterswide 27.8 meters and is under the banner of Malta. From the data available today we know that the vessel would have left the port of in July Kandalaksha, in Russia, and would be headed to Marsa Sciroccoon the island of Malta. During the abandonment of the Russian port, however, the hull would have hit the bottomcracking and damaging both the propeller and the rudder. The boat, however, did not return to Russia but continued its journey, first asking for help from the a Norway and then to Lithuania. These nations, however, would have it denied, both because the damage to the vessel would not be that serious, and because of the high quantity of potentially explosive material on board.
In reality, the choice to reject the docking request would also be linked to doubts about it to actual nationality of the vessel. It is in fact true that Ruby flies the Maltese flag but is registered as the property of a company Dubai which, however, operates in Syria at the port of Tartus. This is a Russian base in the Mediterranean from which the “ghost fleet” of Moscow, i.e. a set of civilian boats used both for monitor the situation of key infrastructures at sea, such as gas and oil pipelines, both for traffic fuel in open sea.
Furthermore, as if the situation wasn’t already suspicious enough, the fact that the Ruby would have been rented by another company from Dubaialso linked to Russia. In short, this is a delicate situation that will necessarily need to be clarified.
