After
three weeks retained in Ghana, members of the crew and cadets from the Argentine
Navy training vessel ARA Libertad arrived past midnight Wednesday to Ezeiza
airport in Buenos Aires where relatives and media were waiting.
Relatives
and media received the stranded seamen.
The
specially chartered Air France Boeing 777 left Ghana mid afternoon with 279
seamen, of which “a fraction are crew members of the training vessel plus all
cadets from the Navy and Army schools and all national and international
guests”, said a brief release from the Argentine Navy.
Stranded
for three weeks because the vessel was impounded by NML Capital, which demands
payment of Argentine sovereign bonds, the seamen left the port of Tema for the
airport of Kokota in nine buses heavily escorted while 44 crewmembers and the
captain remain for the maintenance of the flagship of the Argentine navy.
The Navy
said that following medical check-up the cadets can join their families and
must return by Monday November 5 to complete their training for the graduation
ceremony scheduled 8 December.
The
group flown back also includes naval cadets from Brazil, Chile, Ecuador,
Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. Two of the Chileans (one of them was injured)
out of a crew of 15, arrived in Santiago Wednesday midday. They were received
by Defence minister Andres Allamand.
“We were
always convinced we would sail; we kept waiting for the day to leave the port”,
said the Chilean cadets who added that “people in Ghana are very friendly and
were kind with us”.
Meantime
the Argentine government continues with its diplomatic lobbying and legal
battle with NML-Capital, a battle which so far it has been losing.
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