Coastguard officials are monitoring a cargo ship coast believed to be carrying 20,000 tonnes of potentially explosive material through the Dover Straits.

The mv Ruby is anchored off the Kent coast having left the Russian port of Kandalaksha on August 22 before running into difficulty in Norway.

It is reported the vessel is carrying a load of ammonium nitrate - the material which caused a devastating explosion which killed 200 people in Beirut in 2020 - used in agricultural fertiliser.

HM Coastguard is closely monitoring the ship as makes its way through the UK waters accompanied by an escort tug.

The Coastguard says it can respond to requests for assistance at any moment to ensure the safety of shipping within UK waters.

The ship’s cargo is believed to be up to seven times more than the amount which was present in the Beirut blast meaning her crew is finding it difficult to locate a port which will allow them to offload it.

Shipping expert Nigel Scutts, who runs the Dover Straits Shipping group on Facebook, says in the worst-case scenario the crew may have to ditch the cargo which could potentially lead to a huge ecological incident.

He wrote: “In essence, will any port agree to let her discharge her cargo?

“Perhaps, the vessel will lay off somewhere and tranship part cargoes to smaller ships.

“And perhaps, in the worse case scenario, she could founder and 20,000 tonnes of that stuff will likely create a marine disaster the likes of which, is not something anyone wants to consider.”

The Beirut disaster saw about 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate explode in the Lebanese capital causing extensive damage worth about $15 billion, 217 deaths and 300,000 people homeless.

The blast was detected by several countries nearby including Cyprus some 150 miles away.

It registered on the United States Geological Survey earthquake monitoring equipment as a magnitude of 3.3.

At 11.30am today, MarineTracker – a service that provides real-time data on the location of ships worldwide – reported it was approximately 15 miles off the coast of Margate.

It is understood to be heading through the Dover Straits this afternoon with tracking data showing it is bound for Marsaxlokk in southern Malta.

It comes as Ruby was reportedly refused entry into Norway just a few days ago while looking to dock for repairs.

‘In essence, will any port agree to let her discharge her cargo?’

It is understood to have sustained a cracked hull, rudder and propeller damage after previously running aground off the Norwegian coast shortly after departing Russia last month.

The damaged cargo ship stopped in Tromso, Norway, on September 3, while seeking safety from the bad weather.

The Sun is reporting the authorities insisted the ship leave as fears grew among locals due to the location that the ship was anchored in – near a major hospital and university.

Tromso authorities moved The Ruby on over fears its explosive cargo posed a risk to the city.

Since then she has been escorted by two tugs.

After travelling to northern Norway, it was briefly moored near the Andoya NATO air base, according to the global ship tracking website Marine Traffic.

VesselFinder now reports it is headed for Malta.

However, The Sun reports that the Maltese transport ministry told local press that it would not be allowed in Maltese waters unless it emptied its cargo.

Marco Forgione director general of the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade said the cargo poses a “huge challenge as the Maltese flagged ship is now trying to make its way to Malta.

“This is a really tricky and difficult issue, as no ports along the way are willing to accept the ship to try and address the challenges it faces due to its potential explosive cargo,” he said.

“With 20,000 tons of ammonium nitrate onboard that is 10 times more fertiliser than caused the devastating explosion in Beirut, the largest manmade non-nuclear explosion ever, and that is sat just off the Kent coast is extremely concerning.

“With the reported damage it has sustained, to the hull, to the propeller and to the rudder, it's close to impossible to try and resolve those issues while the ship is at sea. It does need to get to port, but quite frankly, no port is willing to take it with that amount of dangerous chemicals onboard. This really is a Gordian knot of complexity as to how this gets resolved.”

He added whilst is is at sea, the likelihood of the explosion is minimal but there is a chance the bigger issue is the environmental damage.

“Should the ammonium nitrate start to leak out of the ship and contaminate the sea, damage the seabed, and of course, if that were to happen, shipping through the channel would have to be diverted to avoid further shifting the pollution through its waters,” he continued.

“The environmental damage that will happen will be immense, and it will cause ongoing disruption, to what is an already congested shipping lane and disrupt even further the already devastated global supply chains.”