A spokesman for the global chemical weapons watchdog has said that destroying Syria’s chemical weapons’ stockpile at sea is a possibility.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said this was an alternative to the stockpile having to be destroyed in a country. The OPCW aims to destroy some 13 hundred metric tons of Syrian toxic agents by mid-2014. But the plan has been repeatedly dealt a blow by countries in the European Union refusing to host the destruction.

Last week Albania rejected a US request to host destruction. Authorities in Belgium and Norway also have ruled their countries out as locations for the risky operation.

OPCW spokesman Christian Chartier said the alternative of destruction at sea, on a boat or floating rig, is a "feasible" possibility. Chartier said all options are on the table.