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South Africa's leading opposition party on Thursday called on the government to explain why a Russian cargo ship that it said was under western sanctions had docked at a Cape Town naval base, Agence France-Presse reported.
The vessel arrived at Simon's Town, South Africa's largest naval base, on Tuesday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) party said, adding it seemed to have turned off its automatic identification system, which provides the ship's position and other information.
At night, cranes had been offloading cargo from it and onto trucks protected by armed personnel, it added.
South Africa has resisted taking sides following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a war that has triggered sweeping Western sanctions.
The South Africa defense ministry and the navy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ship, identified by local media as the Lady R, flies a Russian flag and is en route from Cameroon to Tanzania, according to vessel tracking websites.
Some information in this report came from Agence France-Presse.
