Maersk ship released in Angola

Maersk ship released in Angola    Maersk Line Ltd. said a U.S.-flag ship detained by Angola in a dispute over an arms cargo has been released at the port of Lobito.
   A Maersk Line Ltd. spokesperson confirmed the multipurpose ship Constellation was released Thursday after about two weeks of detention.
   The ship had 23 persons on board — 20 U.S. mariners and three Polish maintenance workers.
   The ship can carry grain, containers, and roll-on/roll-off cargo.
   It was detained after Angolan authorities raised questions about four containers carrying ammunition on the ship.
Celine Gordon, a Maersk Line Ltd. spokesperson, said the containers were being shipped to Kenya, and that the plan was never to offload them in Angola, but to take the containers to the East Coast of Africa later in its voyage and discharge them in Mombasa.
   The Wall Street Journal quoted a spokesman for General Dynamics, as saying the ammunition sale was conducted with the full U.S. State Department approval.
   Gordon said the ship arrived in Lobito on Feb. 15, was able to begin discharging cargo on Feb. 18. After 12 days it completed discharging its cargo of food aid, when authorities raised questions about the containers and detained the ship. She said Kenyan authorities vouched that the ammunition shipment was legitimate.
   The ship has sailed from Angola, and Gordon said it will proceed on its voyage, but that Maersk was trying to decide exactly what its next port of call would be.