Maputo — The Mozambican Ministry of Agriculture has prevented a ship from leaving the port of Beira because its cargo is believed to include illegally logged timber being exported to China.

According to a report in the independent daily "O Pais', the Ministry received an anonymous tip-off that the 111 containers of timber on board the ship included unprocessed logs. Under Mozambican legislation the export of logs is forbidden. Wood can only be exported if it has been at least minimally processed.

After receiving the tip-off, the Ministry dispatched a multi-sector team to the port to check the contents of the containers. According to "O Pais', no anomalies were detected in the first three containers inspected.

The ship had been due to start its journey to China at about 13.00 on Thursday. But the Ministry's intervention ensured this did not happen.

Unloading the containers and inspecting their contents began at 17.00. The owners of the cargo insisted that the timber had been loaded into the containers in the presence of the relevant authorities, and that the containers had even passed through an electronic scanner.