Somali pirates have freed a Chinese-owned cargo vessel they had held for nearly seven months off the lawless Horn of Africa country, pirates and a regional maritime expert said on Wednesday, Reuters reports. Owned and managed by Ningbo Hongyuan Ship Management Ltd, the Panama-flagged cargo carrier Yuan Xiang was seized on Nov. 12 and its 29-strong Chinese crew taken hostage.
"We have freed the Chinese ship. We have received ... the agreed ransom this morning and the ship has already sailed away," a pirate who identified himself as Hussein told Reuters by telephone from the pirate haven of El-Dhanane.
Andrew Mwangura, a Kenya-based former maritime official and now maritime editor of the Somalia Report confirmed the release but said he did not know whether a ransom had been paid.
Armed pirate gangs plaguing the strategic waters off Somalia that link Europe and Asia typically demand multi-million dollar ransoms for a vessel's release.
A report by the U.S.-based One Earth foundation published earlier this month said pirates' hostages were increasingly the victims of beatings, confinement and in some cases torture.
"We have freed the Chinese ship. We have received ... the agreed ransom this morning and the ship has already sailed away," a pirate who identified himself as Hussein told Reuters by telephone from the pirate haven of El-Dhanane.
Andrew Mwangura, a Kenya-based former maritime official and now maritime editor of the Somalia Report confirmed the release but said he did not know whether a ransom had been paid.
Armed pirate gangs plaguing the strategic waters off Somalia that link Europe and Asia typically demand multi-million dollar ransoms for a vessel's release.
A report by the U.S.-based One Earth foundation published earlier this month said pirates' hostages were increasingly the victims of beatings, confinement and in some cases torture.