Transfer of Syria's chemical weapons completed in Italy

The transfer of Syria’s chemical weapons from a Danish cargo ship to a US naval ship has been completed in Italy’s southern port of Gioia Tauro, Anadolu news agency reported. The naval ship will now take the chemical weapons to international waters to be destroyed.

The Danish cargo ship, Ark Futura, arrived at the Italian port early on Wednesday carrying 78 containers holding nearly 560 metric tons of Syria’s chemical weapons, to be transferred to US Naval ship Cape Ray, which arrived in Italy last Monday. The process took a full 12 hours.

Director General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Ahmad Ozumajo said the transfer process of Syria’s chemical weapons had been successfully completed without any problems. He congratulated the workers at the Italian port as well as expressed his gratitude to the Italian authorities for their efforts in completing the process.

Ark Futura and its deadly cargo left the Syrian port of Latakia on 23 June accompanied by a joint force that included a Turkish frigate, as well as German, Italian and Greek warships, alongside the US Sixth Fleet.