Tornado Alley (PROG)

[StephanieVanbryce]

Syria-Bound Russian Ship Is Turned Back

By RAVI SOMAIYA
June 19, 2012

LONDON — A Russian cargo ship carrying refurbished Russian-made attack helicopters to Syria has turned back from a position just west of Scotland, Britain’s foreign secretary, William Hague, told Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.

The ship, the 400-foot MV Alaed, owned by the Russian shipping company Femco, was tracked about 100 miles northwest of the Scottish coast early Tuesday, according to data available online. The state-owned Russian news agency Ria Novosti reported that it was carrying “a cargo of Mil Mi-25 attack helicopters” and “coastal-based antiship missiles” to Syria.

In response to a question in Parliament, Mr. Hague said his office had had “specific discussions with Russia on that matter, and I am pleased that the ship that was reported to be carrying arms to Syria has now turned back, apparently towards Russia.”

The statement followed news that the ship’s insurer, the Standard Club, had withdrawn coverage for the vessel because its cargo had breached Standard Club’s rules, raising the prospect of delay as it sought an alternative policy.

“We were made aware of the allegations that the Alaed was carrying munitions destined for Syria,” the Standard Club said in its own statement. “We have already informed the shipowner that their insurance cover ceased automatically in view of the nature of the voyage.”

It was not immediately clear why the cargo ship was off the coast of Scotland on its voyage to Syria, or what would happen to its contentious cargo. Ship-tracking data showed that the Alaed set off from the Russian port of Baltiysk in the Baltic province of Kaliningrad on June 11, Reuters reported.

A representative who answered the phone at Femco’s Moscow office said the company would not comment on the Alaed, but would be releasing a statement later in the day.

The insurer denied reports in the British news media that it had come under any government pressure, and a spokesman for Britain’s Foreign Office declined to comment on any intervention, saying only that officials were “aware of a ship carrying a consignment of refurbished, Russian-made attack helicopters heading to Syria.”

The statement, issued before Mr. Hague’s appearance in Parliament, said Mr. Hague had expressed Britain’s view to his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov, when they met last Thursday that “all defense shipments to Syria must stop.”

“We are working closely with international partners to ensure that we are doing all we can to stop the Syrian regime’s ability to slaughter civilians being reinforced through assistance from other countries,” said the Foreign Office’s statement.

Russia is the most important arms supplier to the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and has faced increasing accusations, led by the United States, that Russian weapons are abetting his harsh suppression of a 16-month-old uprising. Last week, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton accused the Kremlin of supplying attack helicopters to Mr. Assad. Russia said all of its military shipments to Syria were defensive in nature.

Related:

Russian Warships Said to Be Going to Naval Base in Syria (June 19, 2012)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/world/europe/russian-warships-said-to-be-going-to-naval-base-in-syria.html?ref=middleeast

Rick Gladstone contributed reporting from New York and Andrew Roth from Moscow.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/world/middleeast/insurer-cancels-policy-on-syria-bound-russian-ship.html?ref=world