Argentine ship hit with $20 million charge after docking in Ghanaian port
The Argentine naval training vessel, Libertad, has been seized by creditors in the Ghanaian port of Tema.
The three-masted tall ship was detained under a court order obtained by NML
Capital. The firm says Argentina owes it more than $300m (£181m) and it will only release the ship if the country pays it at least $20m.
The Argentine government is holding an inquiry into who was
responsible for allowing the Libertad to dock in Ghana and has despatched a delegation to try and resolve the stalemate.
Repercussions have already begun, with navy chief Carlos Alberto Paz replaced and two other
senior naval officials suspended, Argentina’s defence ministry said on
Monday. The navy’s former organisational chief,
Alfredo Mario Blanco, had changed the ship’s itinerary and is now being
investigated. Admiral Luis Gonzalez, the navy’s secretary
general, has also been suspended pending further investigations.
NML Capital is a subsidiary of US hedge fund Elliot Capital Management,
one of Argentina’s former creditors – Argentina defaulted on more than
$100bn (£62bn) of debt in 2001 and 2002, the biggest default in history.
