Somali pirates on Saturday released an Italian-operated, British-owned cargo ship that was seized last month, two maritime watchdog organizations said.
“The MV Malspina Castle was freed by her captors at around 5:30pm local time ... after a ransom had been delivered,” said Ecoterra International, an environmentalist group that monitors piracy and other illegal marine activities in the region.
Andrew Mwangura, who runs the East African Seafarers Assistance Program, also confirmed the vessel had been freed.
The 30,000-tonne bulk carrier, ferrying iron ore with a crew of 24, was seized in the Gulf of Aden on April 6, the same day a Taiwanese vessel was taken near the Seychelles.
The pirates first held it near Garaad and later moved it to Eyl in Somalia’s northern breakaway region of Puntland.
“The crew is said to be all right,” Ecoterra said.
It included 16 sailors from Bulgaria, four Filipinos, two Ukrainians, a Russian and an Indian.
At least 19 ships are still being held by Somali pirates along with several hundred mariners.
In the first quarter of this year, 102 piracy incidents were reported to the International Maritime Bureau, nearly double the number during the same period last year.
Foreign naval ships, including from NATO and the EU, have thwarted several hijacking attempts and made dozens of arrests.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday that the problem of piracy would be one of the themes of the G8 summit that he will host in July.
“We will discuss piracy, a phenomenon which has recently appeared on an unprecedented scale,” he said.
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama met on Saturday with a US cargo ship captain who was held hostage by Somali pirates last month before a dramatic high-seas rescue by US Navy snipers.
Obama hosted Maersk Alabama captain Richard Phillips and his wife, Andrea, in the Oval Office for a visit that had not been publicly announced by the White House.
Phillips was also due to attend Saturday’s White House Correspondents Association dinner, an annual meet of Washington’s press corps elite, politicians and celebrities.
When the ship was attacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia, Phillips gave himself up as a hostage to save his crew and their ship, the Maersk Alabama.
His bloody rescue by elite US Navy SEAL commandos made global headlines. Three pirates were killed in the operation and a fourth was flown to New York, where he faces trial for piracy.
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