Subdeacon Joe Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 Maltese flagged merchant vessel, Russian ammonium nitrate cargo, and a NATO port. What could go wrong? Quote The Malta-flagged cargo vessel, the Ruby, departed from Russia's northern port of Kandalaksha on August 22. It was loaded with ammonium nitrate, a substance used in fertilizer and explosives, when it docked at the port of Tromsø, which is located near to a university campus and university hospital, Norwegian publication The Barents Observer reported on Tuesday. But it looks like someone finally pulled their head out: Quote Concern spread in Tromsø as it became known that the large bulk carrier docked to the industrial port was loaded with potentially dangerous ammonium nitrate. Although the local fire department assured to the Barents Observer that no immediate danger existed, others were worried. By the end of the day Tromsø police decided to order the ship to leave the city. Assisted by two tugs, the Ruby left port around 2 a.m. on the night to September 4. Her current position at anchor is some 30 nm to the north, away from inhabited areas. The ship came from Kandalaksha on the south coast of the Kola Peninsula and was heading towards Las Palmas. Outside Tromsø, the captain asked Norwegian authorities for permission to seek shelter as stormy weather troubled the voyage. Permission was granted and Ruby stayed in the waters near Vannøya for several days before sailing to port in Tromsø. The captain informed about damage to the hull, propeller and rudder. Repair on such a large vessel with dangerous cargo, however, is not a kind of work to be done in close distance from northern Norway’s largest hospital, the university campus and hundreds of private homes, all in a radius of a kilometer from the Breivika port facilities where Ruby docked on Monday. What now will happen with the Maltese flagged vessel and its cargo is highly uncertain. A continued sailing along the coast of Norway, via the English Channel, the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic Ocean down to the Canary is not a voyage anyone will like to do in autumn with damage to vital gear like the propeller and the rudder. If repair requires docking of the 183 meters long vessel anywhere in Norway, the 20,000 tons of ammonium nitrate would most likely have to be temporarily unloaded. Having the Beirut disaster in mind, it could be hard to find a shipyard willing to do the job. Sailing back to Russia seems unlikely as neither the boat nor the cargo is Russian. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 For an example of what could happen and what it would look like see the Halifax Explosion December 6 1917. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rip Snorter Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 And then there was this https://www.britannica.com/event/Texas-City-explosion-of-1947 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Joker Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 (edited) 2020 beirut. Edited September 5 by Texas Joker 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted September 6 Share Posted September 6 chit happens , isnt that what port authority folks are supposed to monitor ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 Posted September 7 Share Posted September 7 The Texas City explosion was part of the material presented for a combined fire/police class on explosives. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michigan Slim Posted September 7 Share Posted September 7 58 minutes ago, Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 said: The Texas City explosion was part of the material presented for a combined fire/police class on explosives. And Kingman Arizona. Propane. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 Posted September 7 Share Posted September 7 Yes, absolutely! The Kingman event illustrated the raw radiant power of a propane BLEVE: Boiling Liquid, Expanding Vapor, Explosion. This one was especially chilling when they showed it to us in training. We had a propane depot in our fire district. After the training, and after conversation with the presenters, I sat down with topo maps and plotted the radius of destruction should our particular depot go boom. I'm told when I was done, after going through multiple topo sheets, after calculating just how much damage would be done, my face was the color of wheat paste. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted September 7 Author Share Posted September 7 And the Port Chicago Magazine Disaster https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/1944/port-chicago.html Embiggen that center image. Radii of debris and damage. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 ... file the good Subdeacon's submission under "S" ... ... for "SCARES ME AND I'M FEARLESS!" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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