The cargo ship Ruby, loaded with ammonium nitrate and damaged, is approaching Pas-de-Calais, what we know

INTERNATIONAL – Potentially dangerous. Departing from Russia, a cargo ship flying the Maltese flag and carrying thousands of tonnes of fertilizer is currently sailing in the English Channel. Damaged, the boat, currently in British waters, is heading towards the Strait of Pas-de-Calais, TF1 indicated in particular on Friday October 4.

Its trajectory worries the British authorities, who estimate that its holds contain 20,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, the substance behind the explosion at the port of Beirut in 2020. Le HuffPost takes stock of this matter.

• Caught in a storm and damaged

The ship, owned by Maltese company Ruby Enterprise, left the port of Kandalaksha in northern Russia in July, according to the BBC.

Shortly after leaving the Russian coast, the Ruby briefly ran aground after apparently encountering a storm in the Barents Sea, reports British public media. Despite everything, he continued his journey before being forced to make a stopover in Tromsø, Norway.

The Norwegian Maritime Authority told the BBC the ship had been inspected to ensure it met safety and environmental standards. She found damage to the hull, propeller and rudder, but the Ruby was judged “fit for navigation “. However, for safety, it required that a tugboat, a small boat used to guide and pull the larger ones, follow the cargo ship until the end of its journey.

Ruby sets sail again towards Lithuania. But once arriving in this country, the ship is refused entry into the port of Klaipeda due to “his cargo”explained the director general of the port authority to the BBC.

• The ammonium nitrate at the origin of the Beirut drama in 2020

Forbidden to dock, the captain of the ship chose to head off the British coast to reach the English Channel, before heading towards the Mediterranean to reach Malta. Enough to worry our neighbors across the Channel. “A boat will explode with the force of an atomic bomb”wrote, with nuance, The Telegraph end of September.

“It’s a floating bomb”estimates for his part Paul Poulain, specialist in industrial risk management, with BFMTV. “It is a threat to maritime security and coastal populations. In my opinion, we will have to consider transferring small quantities of ammonium nitrate to small boats to minimize the risk.he continues.

The risk of an explosion is worrying because Ruby therefore contains 20,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer used in agriculture, but also a substance to create explosives. On August 4, 2020, it was this same chemical that was behind the explosion in a warehouse at the port of Beirut. The latter contained exactly 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, seven times less than the Ruby. The tragedy killed 235 people and injured more than 6,000.

• The French authorities are at « courant »

However, for the cargo ship to explode, there would need to be a trigger, “ such as a distress device which is triggered, the start of a fire, a thermal runaway of a lithium battery or even a mobile phone”, explain a pyrotechnics expert, Thierry Hernandez, from LCI.

The spokesperson for the Manche maritime prefecture assures, for his part, our colleagues at BFMTV, that the French State is « courant » and the boat is ” follow up “. « We have direct links with the British authorities and with the shipowner which would allow us to intervene, if necessary, extremely quickly,” says Étienne Baggio, maintaining that the cargo ship should not stop in France.

Ruby’s last destination is normally Malta, but TF1 indicates that local authorities have already clarified “that it would not be allowed to dock as long as it was carrying ammonium nitrate.” The Ruby is therefore now a ship without a home port.

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