BUENOS AIRES, November 30 – RAPSI. On December 15 the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea will hand down a ruling on the Argentinean frigate Libertad, which is being held in Ghana, , the Argentinean media reported citing a statement by judge Rudiger Wolfrum.

Argentina appealed to the tribunal in mid-November. Susana Ruiz Cerutti, the legal adviser for the Argentine Foreign Ministry, attorney Marcelo Kohen and Horacio Basabe, the Foreign Ministry’s international lawyer, represented Argentina at the hearings on Thursday.

Libertad, which became a pledge in a financial dispute, departed Buenos-Aires on June 2 for a standard voyage with about 300 crew and students. The ship was being used as a venue for a final exam for the students, according to the Argentinean media.

On October 2, the frigate was detained in Ghana under a claim by the international financial fund NML Capital Ltd., a primary holder of Argentina's debt obligations. The fund claimed Argentinean payments had stopped or had only been paid in part in 2001-2002 during the country’s economic crisis.

The frigate is still in the port of Ghana.

NML Capital Ltd is a branch of Elliot Capital Management headed by Paul Singer (who is worth about $1.1 billion, according to Forbes).

The conflict resulted in the dismissal of four high-ranking officials in the Argentinean Defense Ministry, including the navy commander and the head of the country’s intelligence service.