OPCW: Destroying Syria’s Chemical Weapons at Sea is a Possibility

A spokesman from the
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has
said that Syria’s chemical weapons could be destroyed at sea rather
than on land.

From the
Associated Press:

OPCW spokesman Christian Chartier said the alternative of
destruction at sea, on a boat or floating rig, is a “feasible”
possibility.

Chartier told The Associated Press, “All options are on the
table.” No further details have been released.

Among mobile systems that could be put on a ship and sent to sea
is one owned by the U.S. Defense Department. The Field Deployable
Hydrolysis System is a transportable neutralization system that
uses water, other chemicals and heat to change chemical warfare
material into compounds not usable as weapons.

The news comes after authorities in
Albania,
Norway, and
Belgium declined to have their country host the destruction of
Syria’s chemical weapons.

Although destroying the weapons at sea has numerous advantages,
chemical weapons disarmament consultant Ralf Trapp told the AP that
there are, unsurprisingly, potential regulatory, environmental, and
logistic issues that would need to be addressed:

Trapp told the AP that using a sea-based facility would have
numerous advantages, including the ability to position it far from
populated areas.

But he said there were many problems to be addressed beforehand,
including restrictions in the U.N. Convention on the Law of Sea
intended to protect the marine environment, and how to transport
the highly toxic cargo so it presents a minimal risk for sailors,
other maritime traffic and the oceans in general.

More from Reason.com on Syria here.