Somali pirates free Indonesian ship for $7.5mn

Somali pirates freed a Singaporean-flagged chemical tanker, having 24 crew members including Indians, after a ransom was delivered by parachute, a spokesman for the European Union Naval Force said.

Somali pirates have received the largest ransom of $7.5 million for releasing an Indonesian ship carrying chemicals and its 28 crew.

It has been the largest amount of ransom paid to Somali pirates so far for releasing a foreign ship hijacked in Gulf of Aden, Press TV's correspondent said.

A source close to pirates, Abdi Risaaq Faytaan, said that since the chemicals were urgently needed, the ship's owner agreed to pay $7.5 million to the pirates.

Pirates left the chemical tanker Pramoni and the vessel has set a course away from the coast, EU spokesman Cmdr John Harbour said yesterday.

Harbour could not give details on the ransom paid for the release of the tanker, which was seized on Jan 1 with 24 crew members from China, India, Nigeria and Vietnam.

An EU warship is monitoring the situation and all the crew were safe, he said.

The cash was bundled in a waterproof container, attached to a parachute and pushed out the back of a small plane. It is a common way of delivering the multimillion dollar ransoms the pirates demand.

In the meantime, the Somali pirates also shot dead a Yemeni fishing captain who delivered a cargo of weapons to the Somali government's officials at Puntland seaport of Bosaso, our correspondent added.

Heavy and small weapons are said to be flooded from Yemen to Somalia on a regular basis. They cause daily attacks in Somalia and increase the endless hostility among people of Somalia.

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