Is a Russian threat floating off the English coast?

It is a little unsettling that the merchant ship MV Ruby is anchored off Margate, carrying 20,000 tonnes of Russian ammonium nitrate. This is seven times the amount of ammonium nitrate that caused the Beirut explosion in 2020, which killed 218 people and injured 6,000. While ammonium nitrate is usually sold as plant fertiliser, it can also be used in explosives. Some worry that there is a bomb a third of the size of the one detonated over Hiroshima within striking distance of London.

Since leaving the White Sea port of Kandalaksha in July, the 23,760-tonne MV Ruby has exhibited unusual behaviour. Sailing under a Maltese flag, she was grounded during a storm, damaging her rudder and propeller and causing cracks in her hull. Yet instead of heading to the large nearby port of Murmansk, she limped around the coastline before docking in Tromsø, Norway, supposedly after being damaged in another storm. Throughout her voyage, she has systematically attempted to sail close to Norwegian oil rigs, natural gas installations, and the Andøya Air Station, which is soon to be reconfigured to deploy long-range drones.