[release]
MOSCOW - A Russian ship suspected of carrying munitions for Damascus arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus on "Jan. 11 or 12," shipping expert Mikhail Voitenko said.
The ship Chariot arrived at Tartus on January 11 or 12," Voitenko said Jan. 14, basing his conclusions on an examination of data from the vessel's automatic identification system transponder.
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[URL="http://defensenews.com/channel.php?c=MID&s=TOP"]Middle East & Africa[/URL]
"After leaving Limassol, the ship set sail for Tartus. After travelling two-thirds of the way, the team unplugged the AIS transponder," he added.
He believed that the vessel has docked at the Syrian port, he said. It was Voitenko who in 2009 revealed the mysterious disappearance of an Arctic Sea ship, an incident that sparked international concern.
A source from the ship's operator Westberg said Jan. 13 that the ship transporting "dangerous" cargo was bound for Syria.
According to Russian media, the vessel may be transporting up to 60 tons of ammunition supplied by Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport through freight company Balchart.
Chariot stopped over in Cyprus for refueling and was allowed to set sail from the port of Limassol after its Russian owners agreed to change the destination to Turkey rather than Syria.
But the crew decided to revert to its original itinerary after leaving the Cypriot port, according to a Westberg source.
Westberg Ltd., which is headquartered in St Petersburg, could not be reached by AFP.
The United States on Jan. 13 raised concerns with Russia and Cyprus over the ship.
For 10 months now Syria has been in the grips of an uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. According to U.N. estimates made last month, the government crackdown has cost more than 5,000 lives.
Western leaders have called for the embattled strongman to step down but Moscow has steadfastly stuck by its ally.[/release]
[URL]http://defensenews.com/story.php?i=8856273&c=EUR&s=TOP[/URL]
Uh oh....
What if they are nukes
[url]http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/shipdetails.aspx?mmsi=377761000&header=true[/url]
This appears to be said ship.
If it is indeed carrying ammo or weapons for Syria that is insane that people are letting it go ahead. I mean we can only speculate what use they might have for it, but its still a little worrying.
[QUOTE=Ignhelper;34225755]Uh oh....
What if they are nukes[/QUOTE]
Now. I know Russia as a whole hasn't done smart things before. Using nuclear weapons to create lakes and canyons and shit of the sort, but what makes you think they'd just hand off nukes to Syria?
And?
Russia and the United States, as the world's two biggest arms dealers, have a hand in virtually every conflict where civilians are killed (and otherwise).
[editline]16th January 2012[/editline]
And that's funny, they would not be nukes.
Syria: Source sounds like a good idea for a sourcemod :v:
They used all their ammunition shooting protesters and needed to order more.
[QUOTE=Ordigenius;34226192]Syria: Source sounds like a good idea for a sourcemod :v:[/QUOTE]
just kill everyone in a rp server on rp_downtown_v2 and youve pretty much got it
We should pull a CoD 4 and attack the ship.
[QUOTE=BananaFoam;34226292]We should pull a CoD 4 and attack the ship.[/QUOTE]
No.
[QUOTE=Ignhelper;34225755]Uh oh....
What if they are nukes[/QUOTE]Why the hell would Russia want to give Syria nukes? Less countries having nukes serves Russia's interests as well as those of the US.
Doubt they are nukes, but likely a decent amount of small arms and possibly light armor. Scratch the latter, ship looks too small for any vehicles.
The ship's last reported port of call was 2 minutes ago in Iskendrun, which is in Turkey...
So we have Russia potentially arming Syria, and NATO trying to get involved in Syria, and America trying to get involved with Iran, and Russia protecting Iran.
Hey guys, anyone want another proxy war for old times' sake?
I doubt it'll be that, but we do know whose supporting who diplomatically.
Not going to lie, Kind of expected a sourcemod with that title.
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