Following weeks of delays the UN joint mission overseeing the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons announced that 100% of the arsenal had been destroyed or removed from the country, thus meaning that the operation to destroy the most dangerous of these weapons at sea will now commence.
On Wednesday the US Navy reported that the Cape Ray set sail from Rota in Spain to the Italian port of Gioia Tauro. There it will load the most dangerous of the chemical weapons given up by the regime of Bashar al Assad (namely about 700 tons of sarin and mustard gas precursors), before sailing to an undisclosed area international waters between Italy Malta and Greece accompanied by warships.
According to the Turkish daily Hurriyet, the operation will be under the command of the U.S. Sixth Fleet’s Join Task Force-64 and will include the participation of German, Turkish and Italian frigates as well as a Greek submarine.
The plan to destroy the Syrian chemical weapons through the method of hydrolysis at sea has triggered widespread protest in the country concerned about the potential environmental impacts. While the Pentagon has provided assurances that no substances will be released into the environment, critics including members of the scientific community have pointed out that the technology has never been field tested at sea before, nor has an environmental impact assessment of the mission taken place. Furthermore they ask why, if the procedure is safe, it is to be carried out in international waters and not on land. It has been widely noted that serene seas are 'essential'.
Nikos Katsaros, a researcher and former president of the Greek Union of Chemists was quoted on the site Koutitispandoras as saying, “If the neutralization of the chemical weapons proceeds with the method of hydrolysis we are talking about a nightmare scenario. It is an extremely dangerous method with unpredictable consequences for the environment of the Mediterranean and the populations of Crete, Libya and Malta.”
In Crete a 'floating demonstration' drew widespread participation while the residents of the remote and pristine island of Gavdos refused to participate in the recent European elections in protest of the plan to destroy the chemical weapons in the Mediterranean. The protesters have demanded that the Greek government oppose the plan to destroy the chemical weapons off the coast of the country.
However not only has the Greek government refused to oppose the plans, now it appears that the Greek navy will be actively participating in the operation.
According to reports by the US Department of Defense this is expected to be begin soon, once the chemical weapons have been loaded on to the Cape Ray. Once the decommissioning procedure is underway it is expected to take between 40 and 90 days, with the resulting toxic waste to be disposed of by commercial companies.