Ship with Helicopters for Syria Heads to St. Petersburg

A Russian ship that tried to supply attack helicopters to Syria last month before being forced back will dock in Saint Petersburg in coming days, its owners said on Wednesday.

The privately-chartered Alaed had to return to Russia after its initial attempt to deliver the controversial cargo to President Bashar Assad's regime in June was exposed by the U.S. State Department.

The 9,000-tonne private cargo was forced to turn back when its British insurer pulled coverage.

The ship then docked in a Russian Arctic port before setting sail again last week following pledges by military officials to complete the delivery despite the anger it caused in the West.

The MarineTraffic.com website that tracks maritime activity showed the Alaed's radar signal coming in Wednesday off the coast of Russia's Kaliningrad exclave east of Poland where it was expected to make its first port call.

But the ship's private owner Femco told the RIA Novosti state news agency that the ship would instead be arriving in Russia's second city of Saint Petersburg by Friday morning.

The tsarist-era home of Russia's navy provides no direct access to the open seas and would require the Alaed to travel back through the Baltic and in between Denmark and Sweden before approaching the north Atlantic again.

A Russian military official earlier confirmed that the vessel was still carrying the three Mi-25 attack helicopters Russia says it repaired for Syria before trying to send them back despite the ongoing bloodshed.

Analysts expected the ship to dock in Kaliningrad -- home to the military repair facility where the helicopters underwent upgrades -- to drop off the cargo so it could be sent on to Syria by either air or another ship.