The crew of an Argentine naval frigate detained for three weeks near Accra over a bond dispute can leave Ghana, an official said Tuesday, after Buenos Aires announced plans to evacuate most of the sailors on board.

The vessel travelled to the west African nation for a training mission with a crew of more than 300, made up mostly of Argentinians but also carrying sailors from several other countries.

The one South African on board left Ghana on Sunday, said Lufuno Makoya, first secretary at South Africa High Commission in Ghana.

Argentina has chartered an Air France Boeing 777 to evacuate more than 280 crew members of the ARA Libertad that is scheduled to leave Accra at 1415 (GMT and local) on Wednesday, according to Buenos Aires and the airline.

Roughly 40 crew members will remain on board to maintain the vessel being detained at the port of Tema just outside Accra.

Ghana's Information Minister Fritz Baffour said the Libertad's crew "are free to leave."

"They are not under arrest or anything like that. It's only the ship that is being held," he told AFP.

Aside from the Argentinians, the remaining crew includes sailors from Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Venezuela.

A spokesman for Air France said the flight would be carrying 290 sailors out of Accra, landing in Buenos Aires at 2345 GMT. Argentina's foreign ministry said 281 people are to be evacuated.

The three-masted tall ship has been held up in a port near Accra since October 2 when a Ghanaian court granted an order sought by a Cayman Islands investment fund which says it is owed more than $370 million by the Argentine government.

The fund called NML held government bonds on which the government defaulted and has demanded a $20 million bond in exchange for the release the ship.