Ghanaian officials asked a judge Thursday to order the
Argentine navy ship detained in the West African nation over a debt dispute to
be moved because it was blocking valuable space at the port
of Tema.
Ghana's
port authority appeared in Accra's
commercial court following an October 19 filing asking for the ARA Libertad to
be moved to an anchorage, saying the three-masted tall ship was harming
commercial activity.
Tema is Ghana's
largest port and sees major traffic from commercial vessels.
“There is congestion at the port and commercial activities
are virtually coming to a standstill,” a lawyer for the authority, Asare Darko
was quoted by the local media.
“The situation is getting more and more chaotic. You can't
put a military vessel in the midst of commercial vessels. As at yesterday, we
could count about 20 vessels waiting to berth.”
A lawyer representing Argentina's
government, Kizito Beyuo, told the court Buenos Aires
would oppose the request and asked for an adjournment until November 1, which
was granted.
NML Capital Limited, whose court claims led to the detention
of the ship, will not oppose the request to move the frigate to anchorage,
according to its lawyer Ace Ankomah.
More than 280 sailors -- most of them Argentines -- who had
been stuck in Ghana
for more than three weeks since the court detained their ship flew out aboard a
chartered flight on Wednesday.
The group also included naval cadets from Brazil,
Chile, Ecuador,
Paraguay, Uruguay
and Venezuela.
Argentina
was forced to organise the evacuation after an Accra
court upheld an order secured by NML, a Cayman Islands
investment firm, which said it is owed 370 million by Argentina.
NML, a subsidiary of New York-based Elliott Capital
Management, bought Argentine bonds at a discount when the country's economy was
in freefall in 2000. Buenos Aires
later defaulted.
Argentina
has rescheduled and refinanced much of its debt, but bonds held by speculative
funds are among its unsettled business.
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