PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Months after diplomats declared that they had come up with a plan and a timetable to dispose of Syria’s lethal chemical weapons — and with the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the weapons inspectors — the centerpiece of the mission, a workhorse American military ship that will ferry the weapons to sea for destruction, remains here in port, waiting like a sad bride for her groom.

The ship’s captain, Rick Jordan, does not have his shipping orders, nor does he know exactly which country he is headed to. He has yet to be told on which body of water the unprecedented task of destroying 700 tons of lethal chemicals on his ship, the Cape Ray, will occur.

But the ship — equipped with a complex array of tanks and valves worthy of Dr. Frankenstein — is ready for its historic mission. “A year ago, we were not in a position to do this,” said Frank Kendall, a Defense Department under secretary who spoke to reporters who toured the Cape Ray on Thursday. Now a team of chemists, maritime experts and others have worked with existing technology and are ready to go.

Syria, however, is not. Late last month, the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the group charged with the removal efforts, said in a joint statement that security conditions in Syria had “constrained planned movements” and that bad weather had foiled plans to move the weapons out by the target date of Dec. 31. Among the biggest problems is the highway that joins Damascus to the coast, which has been recently retaken by the government but where rebel forces continue to be a threat to vehicles and the fear of ambush remains intense.