The international operation to destroy Syrian chemical weapons entered its final phase today, with the stockpile being loaded onto a US military ship equipped to dispose of them.
Hundreds of tonnes of mustard gas and ingredients to make Sarin nerve gas were transferred from a Danish freighter in the southern Italian port of Gioia Tauro amid tight security.
An exclusion zone was set up around the port in the Reggio Calabria region as the vessels moored stern-to-stern, and the containers were moved from one ship to the other by crane and a vast climbing platform.
"For now everything is going well. We have put in a huge amount of effort... To manage the transfer operation smoothly," Italy's Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti said on Twitter as he watched over the delicate procedure.
The operation is being overseen by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPAC). Safety officers in the area are constantly monitoring for the possible release of dangerous toxins into the amid protests by Italian environmentalists about the "poison ship".
Officials at the scene said between six and seven containers were being loaded onto the MV Cape Ray per hour, with 62 of the 78 on board by late afternoon. Once the chemical agents have been safely transferred, they will be destroyed in international waters.
The disposal process marks the culmination of a programme to rid Syria of its chemical weapons stockpile after the outcry that followed chemical attacks by the Assad regime in the suburbs of Damascus on August 23 last year, that may have killed as many as 1,400 people.
The transfer and disposal of the weapons and materials "could open up new possibilities for disarmament and non-proliferation in the region," Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini said.
But despite government assurances that the port was used to handling highly dangerous toxic substances, the procedure has sparked concern in Italy.
Dozens of protesters gathered in the nearby town of San Ferdinando yesterday, worried by the risks to health involved in allowing the Danish freighter Ark Futura, which they dubbed "the poison ship", to dock.
"This is not a routine operation, it's a military operation and we are very worried," trade unionist Domenico Macri told AFP.
"We have never carried out this type of operation in Gioia Tauro before. If there's an accident, and a container breaks or falls, the substances which would come out could do serious damage," he said.
