Syria-bound Russian cargo ship turning back, British diplomat says UK Foreign Secretary William Hague says the ship appears to be headed toward Russia He said Britain is discouraging anyone from supplying arms to Syria Chemical weapons in Syria are a concern, Hague said He says focus is on peaceful transition, but "we cannot take any options off the table" (CNN) -- A Russian cargo ship reported to be carrying arms to Syria is turning back, Britain's top diplomat said Tuesday. "I am pleased that the ship that was reported to be carrying arms to Syria has turned back apparently towards Russia," British Foreign Secretary William Hague told the House of Commons. U.S. officials have said that the Russian operator Femco's cargo ship, MV Alaed, was headed for Syria with attack helicopters and munitions for the al-Assad regime from the port of Kaliningrad. Hague commented on a ship during questions about the fighting in Syria during a wide-ranging House of Commons question-and-answer session about foreign policy. He didn't name the vessel. Syrian opposition uniting to topple al-Assad He mentioned the status of the ship when asked whether "every peaceful diplomatic effort is being made to prevent the Syrian government from getting its hands on weapons that can be used against its own people." Hague also cited a European Union arms embargo on Syria. "We discourage anyone else from supplying arms to Syria," he said. We have had discussions with Russia about that specifically. He answered a question about how to approach the issue of chemical weaponry in Syria. Hague said that such weapons are a concern and that he's "confident that the international community" would pursue any action to deal with the issue, but he wouldn't elaborate. The Standard Club, a UK marine insurer, said it has stopped coverage for the Alaed. The withdrawal of coverage applies to the whole Femco fleet of eight vessels entered with the company, Standard Club officials said. On Friday, U.S. officials said they were tracking a Russian military cargo ship, the Nikolay Filchenov, also thought to be bound for Syria. U.S. intelligence believes the Russians are sending the ship to help fortify a Russian naval base in Syria as the situation in the country continues to spiral out of control, Pentagon officials told CNN on Friday. Syria has been engulfed in widespread unrest for more than 15 months. Thousands have died after a crackdown by the government of President Bashar al-Assad on peaceful protesters stoked an anti-regime uprising. Hague said that efforts to deal with the "dire" situation have been focused on a "peaceful political transition in Syria and to a cessation of violence." At no stage have we been advocating a military intervention, but we do recognize the situation is so grave and deteriorating so quickly and such crimes are being committed, we cannot take any options off the table at the moment. Opinion: Why Putin can't be forced to deal