An Argentine navy warship detained in Ghana since October has been released and has now left the country to its destination.

Accra / NationalTurk-The ship was detained by a court order by a US financial fund which said it was owed money by the Argentine government as a result of a debt default 10 years ago.

The lengthy diplomatic row began when the ship was prevented from leaving Ghana on 2 October, after a local court ruled in favour of financial fund NML Capital that indeed Argentina government owed the company.

The fund is a subsidiary of US hedge fund Elliot Capital Management which is one of Argentina’s former creditors and the court ruled that the Argentina government should pay the money.

The fund said it was owed $370m (£233m) by the Argentine government after the country defaulted on its debt in 2001 and 2002 and was seeking $20m in return for the release of the Libertad.

But Argentina held that the vessel is a military vessel and could amount to conflict between Ghana and the South American nation.

Argentina therefore filed a case against Ghana at the UN Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Germany to release the vessel unconditionally.

The court ruled on Saturday that the vessel should be freed by Ghana saying it is a military vessel and therefore it enjoys immunity since it is apart of the security strategic apparatus of Argentina.

The court however set 22^nd of December as deadline for the release of the vessel but Ghana decided to let the ship go before the deadline yesterday.

The Ghana Foreign Ministry has maintained that the seizure of the vessel was in compliance with a court order and does not amount to conflict against Argentina.

It added that Ghana as a law abiding country and a member of the UN saw it necessary to respect the ruling of a higher court from the world governing body and therefore allowed the vessel to seal off.

Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News