Local media had reported that the vessel, An Yue Jiang, left the South African port of Durban late Friday after the Durban high court barred its cargo from being taken to landlocked Zimbabwe, which is gripped by a political crisis.

CNN said the ship was headed to the port of Luanda, in Angola, citing the South African Department of Transport. It said that it had sailed away before the court order could be served to the ship's captain.

Dockworkers in Durban had also expressed reluctance to handle the cargo, fearing the arms may be used by the government in Harare against the Zimbabwe people, CNN reported.

The court ruling Friday came after the South African Litigation Centre, a legal group focusing on human rights issues, filed an urgent application to block a conveyance permit allowing the arms to be offloaded and transported.

Three million rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades and more than 3,000 mortar rounds and mortar tubes are among the cargo on the ship, according to copies of the inventory published by a South African newspaper.

In February a report adopted by the foreign affairs commission of the European Parliament urged the European Union to put pressure on China to stop delivering weapons to African countries, naming Zimbabwe in particular.

Zimbabwe is currently gripped by tensions resulting from the electoral commission's failure to release the results of the March 29 presidential election.

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