Ruby back in the headlines as it offloads some of its controversial cargo into the North Sea

The Ruby, a controversial Russia-linked bulk carrier, is back in the headlines again. The pariah ship has been in and out of the news over the past couple of months after it suffered damage when encountering bad weather off the far north of Norway, while carrying a cargo of potentially explosive ammonium nitrate. After many countries refused to let the vessel dock, the UK came to its rescue late last month, allowing it to call at Great Yarmouth on the country’s east coast. 

The ship left the port over the weekend, at the behest of the UK coastguard. It was ordered to dump a “small quantity” of the “contaminated” cargo into the sea, according to the coastguard. The ship spent 30 hours circling an area 20 km from port, before returning to the same terminal. 

It is expected that the remainder of the cargo will be transferred over the coming days to the Zimrida, a handysize bulk carrier that is moored on an adjacent berth.

The Ruby, a 37,000 dwt open hatch carrier, was originally headed from the Russian city of Kandalaksha to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands but ran aground and sustained damage to its propeller, hull, and rudder. 

The ship, listed in databases as managed by the UAE-based Serenity Ship Management, was carrying seven times the amount of ammonium nitrate that caused the 2020 port explosion in Beirut, which killed more than 200 people.