U.S. ship to destroy last of Syria's declared chemical weapons

It's been a little over a year since President Barack Obama accused the Syrian government of crossing a "red line," with the use of poison gas against civilians. This week, the last of the country's declared chemical weapons stockpiles are sailing to their eventual demise, CNN reported. 

A U.S. government container ship, the Cape Ray, awaits their arrival at an Italian port, the Pentagon said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Danish ship the weapons left Syria on, the Ark Futura, will hand them off at Gioia Tauro, then the Cape Ray will sail out to international waters and destroy nearly half the total load of 1,300 metric tons (1,433 short tons).

It will take 60 days to neutralize the chemicals safely and cleanly, the Pentagon said.

The rest of the mustard gas and methylphosphonyl difluoride, a chemical used to make nerve agents sarin and soman, will be destroyed at plants in the United States and Europe.

The resulting hazardous waste will be further processed in Germany and Finland.