Argentina replaced its navy chief on Monday as it investigates the seizure of a frigate in Ghana by bondholders who say they will not release the vessel until the South American country repays money owed them after its 2002 debt default.
The Libertad, a training frigate with some 300 crew on board, was detained in the Ghanaian port of Tema on October 2 under a court order obtained by NML Capital Ltd, an affiliate of investment firm Elliott Management.
The firm says Argentina owes it over $300 million on defaulted debt and it will only release the ship if the country pays it at least $20 million.
The Defense Ministry replaced navy chief Carlos Alberto Paz soon after removing two other senior officials as part of a probe into who was responsible for the ill-fated decision to stop in Ghana, a Ministry statement said.
President Cristina Fernandez's government has condemned the ship's detention, saying it could not be targeted by creditors due to its military nature. A Ghanaian court ruled that Argentina forfeited such immunities when it issued the bonds.
This might be the most bizarre story I've seen in a long, long time.
By: Brant
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3 comments:
that country is ready to slide into the abyss, depsite the wealth of the new middle class. The govt there is propping up the poor via tax and spend and wholesale theft of private assets including social security.
It wont end well.
I looked that up a while ago and it seems to be a frigate in the 18th century sense; a training sailship.
Is this to be the fate of the Argie navy? And they thought ending up on the bottom of the S. Atlantic was embarrasing.
Elsewhere in the news...this certainly explains the large sea-going vessel I saw at the local Big Lots!
And finally...Apparently the entire crew was drunk, wearing chinos and "wife-beaters" when the repo-men showed up.
Sorry...couldn't resist...
Jack "all in the fun until someone loses a frigate" Nastyface
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