Ruby, a ship carrying Russian ammonium nitrate, will unload its explosive cargo at another port, and then a decision will be made whether to allow it to enter the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda for repairs, the port’s CEO says.
“We have found a port that agrees to receive and unload the cargo,” Algis Latakas told reporters in Klaipeda on Thursday. “It will be then decided whether this ship can come to Klaipeda for repairs.”
In his words, there’s no reason not to allow the unloaded ship to enter for repairs since the Maltese-flagged vessel belongs to a UAE company and is not linked to Russia.
“As a port authority, we really see no reason why an empty ship with a flag and owners we accept not be allowed to come to Klaipeda and be repaired,” Latakas said. “The ship is not under the Russian flag. If it was under the Russian flag, nobody would consider allowing it to enter Klaipeda. The cargo is a separate story.”
Latakas did not mention the specific port that would receive the cargo, but assured that it is close to where it stopped (in northern Norway).
According to the vessel tracking website Marine Traffic, the ship is currently in the Norwegian Sea, near Andenes in northern Norway.
According to Latakas, the vessel sustained damage after leaving the White Sea and then stopped in Norway for checks. A tender for its repairs were later launched, and Latakas says, it was won by a Klaipeda-based company.
On Wednesday, The Barents Observer, a Norwegian publication, reported that the Ruby carrying explosive and potentially dangerous cargo had arrived in the Norwegian port of Tromso, but was ordered by local police to lave due to the risk of an explosion.
Source: BNS
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