Frigate Libertad is held in Ghana over bondholder lawsuit

This article got cut off in the English translation.  Please see below.

 

Clarin

Frigate Libertad is held in Ghana over bondholder lawsuit

 

Wednesday, October 03, 2012

 

By Ana Baron

 

The order of the Superior Court of Ghana that yesterday detained the Frigate Libertad in Puerto Tema at the request of the vulture funds is clear.  “The Accused (the Foreign Ministry of Argentina), its officials, agents ... including the capital of the Ship, Pablo Lucio Salonica, and the crew are prohibited from moving the frigate ARA Libertad from Puerto Tema without a new order from this court,” it says.  And it adds that the authorities of the port must retain all of the ship’s documentation, be it electronic or printed.

 

More still, the order – which Clarin obtained – says that members of the crew must surrender to the authorities of the port.

 

The port of Tema, where the Frigate is detained, is in Accra, the capital of Ghana, which is a former English colony situated in Africa, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

 

The plaintiffs, NML Capital Ltd of Elliott Management, and Huntlaw Corporate Service, a group that legally represents every kind of investment funds, asked for the detention of the Frigate in an attempt to collect on rulings that they’ve obtained in their favor in the courts of New York.

 

The goal is to attach the Frigate.

 

During the hearings that will take place starting together the Argentine government could obtain the release of the Frigate by paying bail.  But it is still very early to know what the judicial decision will be or what amount the bail could come to.

 

The detention of the Frigate is another indicator of the discontent that exists at the international level with respect to Argentina, which Washington characterizes as “not honoring its international obligations.”  ATFA, the group that is pressuring through lobby efforts in the Congress in the name of the vulture funds, has contributed enormously toward creating an “anti-Argentina” climate not only at the domestic level, but also internationally, including in London.

 

The teaching vessel Frigate Libertad said on June 2 from the Port of Buenos Aires, beginning the traditional graduation trip for 69 marines, of which 15 are women.  “It’s a big part for all Argentine citizens to see our teaching vessel Frigate Libertad set sail on a trip around the whole Southern Atlantic, through countries in South America, Europe and Africa,” said the captain of the ship that day, Carlos Alievi.  It’s impossible to imagine then that one of the most important symbols of the Argentine navy would be detained at the port of Tema, Ghana, over a judicial order.

 

Two sources confirmed to Clarin that the detention took place yesterday and the judicial order from Ghana, which this newspaper obtained, was issued by the Superior Court of Judicature in the High Court of Justice (Commercial Division).

 

On the day that the ship sailed from Buenos Aires, Captain Alievi was very proud because it would be the first time that the teaching vessel would visit Ghana, Angola and Namibia.

 

“With a crew of 220 men and women and 110 students, the ship is carrying aboard, in addition to Argentines, students of other South American countries that are accompanying us, with the pride that comes from a teaching vessel that has united” the region, said the officer to the Telam agency at the time.