Options for Ruby owners running out

The Ruby is classed by DNV and laden with a cargo of ammonium nitrate taken on board at the Russian port of Kandalaksha on 22 August.

The UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency and representatives for owners and managers, Malta-based Ruby Enterprises and Serenity Ship Management DMCC of Dubai, insist that the vessel is safe and in compliance with regulations. However, while that may well be the case today, the future appears fraught with challenges.

Insurance and seafaring experts have revealed to Seatrade Maritime News the scale of the problem. Speaking on condition of anonymity, they say that the options to allow the vessel to weigh anchor and sail to a fixed destination have narrowed over recent days.

Some have drawn parallels with the fate of the SS Montgomery, a small US-flagged cargo vessel laden with munitions which sank off Sheerness, downstream from London, in August 1944. Even to this day, the SS Montgomery is closely monitored, constantly exercising the minds of Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) personnel.

They are assigned to tracking the condition of the sunken vessel and her cargo. If either were to become unstable, it could lead to an explosion which, together with a potential tsunami-like wave, could severely damage significant areas of the north Kent coast.

The issues surrounding the 37,019 dwt Ruby, built in 2012, are more immediate, however. The ship has been prevented from sailing further on her voyage from Russia, initially to the Canary Islands but subsequently to Malta.

With limited speed as result of the hull and propeller damage following a severe storm in northern waters, a voyage across the Bay of Biscay and into the Mediterranean is too risky. Temporary repairs, understood to have been carried out in northern Norway, now need to be made more permanent.

Seatrade Maritime News has been told by owners’ representatives that a suitable repair yard is being identified in the UK. However, on her voyage south, accompanied by a tug, the ship was denied entry by port authorities and repair yards in various countries owing to the potential risks relating to her cargo, its origin and the ship’s current condition.

Ports and repair yards in the UK are unlikely to take a different view, which is probably why the Ruby remains at anchor. Experts highlight the inevitable stress on the ship’s Master and crew, facing interminable uncertainty, elevated safety risks and probable loneliness.

Only a handful of UK yards are capable of undertaking such an operation. And, in any case, a permanent repair could not be carried out with hazardous cargo remaining on board. Hotwork would inevitably be required. But ammonium nitrate is notoriously dangerous and the main reason why the vessel was denied entry by ports during her voyage south.

The vessel has mutual insurance with the West of England P&I Club and remains in class for the moment. But whether the unloading of her hazardous cargo to shore, or ship-to-ship transfer at sea, would be approved is highly unlikely, Seatrade Maritime News is told. Furthermore, if class were to be withdrawn because repairs had not been carried out in good time, the ship’s insurance could become invalid.

As things stand, there is no clear way forward.