LOME A Swedish-registered ship carrying 186 Liberian passengers has left Togolese waters, where it had been stranded after three weeks of wandering on the high seas, port officials said Saturday.

"The Alnar Stockholm left Lome Port at 18:10 p.m. yesterday," a port official said. He was unable to say where it was headed.

The ship's Captain, Henning Kielberg, had said he was low on fuel and could not make it to Nigeria, which has said it would let the vessel dock.

Sources said togolese officials had sent food and water supplies to the ship Friday but had not provided fuel, sparking speculation that the ship could be headed for the Benin port of Cotonou, which is closer than Nigeria.

On Friday, Lome Port officials despatched 500 kilograms of rice, 500 loaves of bread, three cartons of milk, five cartons of sardines, 50 liters of cooking oil and 3,000 liters of drinking water to the ship.

Scuba divers and other experts worked for more than two hours Friday to remove snagged fishing nets from the ship's propellor to render it navigable.

The Alnar Stockholm, a 53-meter (175-foot) long cargo ship, has been at sea since June 1 after leaving Monrovia, the Liberian capital, apart from a brief stop in Ghana.

It was refused permission to land the majority of its passengers in Ghana and was refused permission to dock by authorities in Benin.

Many of the passengers have fallen sick, according to the captain.

The passengers include 79 children, 63 women and several old people.

Port officials Friday said the sanitary situation on board was unhealthy, and banned journalists from going aboard.