The ship is currently located off the coast of Norway, but is reportedly on its way past Denmark and Sweden en route to Lithuania. According to websites that track maritime traffic, the ship is listed as "not under command", which means it is currently being towed slowly southeast with the help of a tugboat.
The Coast Guard is aware that the ship is having problems with its propulsion and is being towed.
It's unclear where the ship will end up, whether it will be Norway, Denmark, or the Baltic Sea. We'll have to get back to that, says Mattias Lindholm, press spokesperson for the Coast Guard.
What we know now is that they haven't requested a port of refuge, at least not in Sweden.
Collaborating with others
The Coast Guard has been in contact with relevant parties at central and regional levels, as well as with coast guards in neighboring countries.
We have a good exchange of information and are working together to ensure that this doesn't develop into an incident that we don't want, says Lindholm.
The ship MV Ruby has 20,000 tons of ammonium nitrate on board. It's a hazardous chemical that was behind the massive explosion in Beirut's harbor in Lebanon in 2020 – but then in much smaller quantities.
Common transport
The cargo is classified as hazardous goods, but the risk of detonation or ignition is "very low", according to Lindholm.
The way the cargo is loaded and stored on board follows the normal procedure for transporting the substance, he says, emphasizing that the substance is transported daily by land, sea, and rail in Sweden.
The ship MV Ruby was loaded in a Russian port on the Kola Peninsula and sustained hull damage. However, it is not welcome at its final destination in Lithuania, which Danish media have previously reported, citing the authority Søfartsstyrelsen.
When the ship anchored in Tromsø, Norwegian authorities established a 500-meter security zone. During an inspection, it was determined that the damage needs to be repaired, but it was not "desirable" for it to happen in densely populated Tromsø, according to Aftonbladet, citing The Barents Observer. The MV Ruby was then ordered to leave.
Norwegian authorities have apparently allowed the ship to sail again, presumably because the Norwegian authorities have also assessed that the seaworthiness is sufficient to continue, says Lindholm.
Ammonium nitrate is produced from ammonia and nitric acid. It's not an explosive in itself, but can, under certain circumstances, be brought to explosion. If it's mixed with oil and aluminum powder, you get an explosive.
Ammonium nitrate is used for fertilizers, but has also been used to manufacture bombs in a number of attacks around the world – including in Oklahoma in 1995 and in Bali in 2002.
The Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik used the substance for the bomb that detonated outside the government quarters in Oslo in 2011, and it was also used in the suicide bombing in Stockholm in 2010.
In 2020, over 200 people were killed and several thousand injured in a massive explosion in Beirut's harbor. It was caused by 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, which had been stored in the harbor for over six years without adequate safety measures.
