Zambia's president has urged regional states to bar a Chinese ship carrying arms to Zimbabwe from entering their waters, saying the shipment could deepen the country's election crisis.
The ship is understood to be carrying arms and ammunition for the Zimbabwean government.
The international union federation, ITF, says the cargo ship An Yue Jiang, which left South African waters to avoid an injunction and trade union action against its cargo, has now steered away from possible landfall in Maputo.
The federation says the An Yue Jiang has switched off its transponder, which broadcasts its exact location, but the ITF believes it could try to make for Luanda in Angola next, and may be running low on fuel.
In a separate development, about 30 Zimbabwe opposition activists have appeared in court in Harare on public order charges in connection with last week's 'stay at home day'.
Prosecutors say they were behind a series of violent incidents during the strike last Tuesday, including the burning of commuter buses.
The MDC says 10 of its followers have been killed by pro-government militias since the election on 29 March.
Lawyers claimed the accused had been assaulted while in the custody of the security forces.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has condemned the ongoing recount in the contested election as a worthless exercise aimed at allowing President Robert Mugabe to steal the vote.
Mr Miliband questioned the security of the ballot boxes held by the authorities since the polling date and described the arrests of election officials as intimidation.
Zimbabwe announced a delay on Sunday in a partial recount of votes from last month's parliamentary elections.
The Opposition says its leader Morgan Tsvangirai won presidential elections held on the same day, and that Mr Mugabe is attempting to cling to power by delaying declaring the result.
