Johannesburg — A Chinese ship laden with weapons for Zimbabwe was heading home yesterday after being refused permission to dock in four African nations.

Beijing said the An Yue Jiang had been unable to fulfill its contract to deliver 77 tons of arms, including bullets, mortars, grenades, and assault rifles all ordered by the Mugabe government at the request of army and police chiefs.

Dock workers in South Africa refused to unload the ship, fearing that the weapons would be used against opponents of the Mugabe regime. The ship then spent a week stranded off the coast as Mozambique, Namibia, and Angola denied it permission to dock.

“This is a great victory for the Durban dockers,” Sprite Zungu of the South African International Transport Federation said. “They took action while the rest of the world, including the U.N., the U.S., and even the South African government just agonized and twiddled their thumbs.”

South Africa refused to act, saying it would “not interfere in a trade agreement between Zimbabwe and China.”

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Jiang Yu, confirmed in Beijing that the An Yue Jiang was turning back.

She added that the contract was signed last year, that all the ships papers were in order, and that no international laws had been broken. “It is pointless to politicize this issue,” she said.