Experts on board a cargo ship transformed into a multi-million dollar chemical weapons destroyer said on Thursday they were ready to start working on Syria's stock of toxic arms in the middle of the Mediterranean as early as May. Now they just have to hope the weather holds and Damascus delivers on time, according to Reuters. Former container vessel Cape Ray, docked in southern Spain, has been fitted out with at least $10 million of gear to let it take on about 560 metric tonnes of Syria's most dangerous chemical agents and sail them out to sea, said officials. The Damascus government, fighting rebels for three years, agreed to hand over its stockpile, which include precursors for deadly nerve agents sulphur, mustard and sarin gas, under an international deal backed by Washington and Moscow, On the Cape Ray, the specialised crew will transform much of it into a much less poisonous soup of chemicals, ready for disposal back on land. The process, say officials on the hulking grey, five-storey vessel, is fairly simple. The main agent to neutralise the agents is hot water. But things could get trickier if the seas turn rough. -- SPA 21:02 LOCAL TIME 18:02 GMT تغريد
