The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Saturday that pirates had released the UN-chartered cargo ship MV Rozen and its 12-member crew, adding that it welcomed the release which came after 40 days since the vessel was seized off the northeastern coast of pirate-infested Somalia.

In a statement issued in Nairobi, the WFP urged the transitional government of Somalia to curb piracy in Somali waters.

"WFP welcomes the release after 40 days of the MV Rozen and its 12-person crew,"WFP Somalia Country Director Peter Goossens said in a statement. "The threat of piracy however is still very much alive in Somali waters."

Pirates hijacked the UN-chartered freighter off the coast of northeastern Somalia on February 25 after the ship unloaded 1,800 tons of food aid in Berbera and in Bossaso and was sailing empty back to Mombasa. On board were six Sri Lankans, including the captain, and six Kenyans.

It was the first time pirates hijacked a boat near Somalia since Ethiopian troops helped the Somali transitional government oust the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts from Mogadishu late last year.

On Friday, another group of pirates released an Indian-flagged cargo ship which was seized in the Somali waters on Monday this week.

The MV Nimatullah, which was seized with 14-member crew while delivering 900 tons of cargo off the Somali coast, was freed after a Dubai-based agent paid a ransom.

It was unclear whether ransom was paid for the release of the WFP-contracted ship.

Piracy was rampant in Somalia.

Early last year, MV Rozen escaped an attempted hijack in southern Somali waters. Her sister vessel, the MV Semlow, was hijacked with WFP relief food on board for more than 100 days in Somali waters in June 2005.

Source: Xinhua