Pirates have freed a German cargo ship they hijacked off the coast of Somalia after holding the vessel and crew for 41 days, a regional maritime official confirmed here Wednesday.
Andrew Mwangura, East Africa's Coordinator of Seafarers Association, said the pirates released the MV Lehmann Timber after receiving 750,000 U.S. dollars in ransom.
"We have just received information that the MV Lehman Timber was released on Tuesday for 750,000 dollars ransom," Mwangura said by telephone.
He said the vessel was sailing for a safe port a day after the hijacking ended. The captain and 15 crew members will be brought ashore and given medical checkups and a chance to rest.
A spokesman for the Karl Lehmann Shipping Company of the Germancity of Luebeck said that all 15 crew members of the cargo ship were in good health.
The ship was seized at the end of May along with a Turkish vessel. The Turkish ship was released at the end of June.
The MV Lehmann Timber had been held near the coastal village of Eyl while negotiations continued. Mwangura said that the pirates initially wanted well over 1 million dollars.
Piracy is rife off the coast of the Horn of Africa nation. Cargo ships and luxury yachts have been targeted by heavily-armed pirates, who then hold the crew ransom.
Pirates are currently demanding two million dollars for the release of a German couple seized on June 23 as they sailed through the Gulf of Aden on a trip from Egypt to Thailand.
The highest-profile case in recent months involved the capture of a luxury French yacht in April. French troops rescued the hostages and captured six of the pirates, although another six are believed to have escaped.
Somalia has been in a state of anarchy since the overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
The ship was one of two hijacked on May 30 off the Horn of Africa. Piracy is rampant along the 1,880-mile Somali coast.
Source: Xinhua
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