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Somali pirates release cargo ship, ransom paid

02 February 2010 00:56 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Somali pirates released the cargo ship MV Filitsa on Monday after a ransom was delivered and the crew are safe, a regional maritime official and pirate sources said, APA reports quoting Reuters.
A pirate on board the ship told Reuters earlier they were expecting to receive $3 million for the Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship, which was seized in November with crew from Greece and the Philippines.
Helicopters dropped the agreed ransom aboard the vessel, Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers Assistance Programme said. "She is now steaming out to safe waters. All crew members are said to be safe," he added.
"We took the money from the ship ... The ship started sailing and there’s navy ships guarding it," said pirate Rage, adding the pirates were heading toward land on their own sail boat to the pirate hideout of Hobyo.
As ransoms paid to Somali pirates spiral higher, competition between rival gangs has been growing. A dispute in January over the biggest ever payoff to Somali pirates for a Greek-flagged oil tanker sparked gunbattles at sea and on land.
Worldwide, piracy attacks rose nearly 40 percent in 2009, with Somali pirates accounting for more than half of the 406 reported incidents, according to the International Maritime Bureau. Typically, the pirates hold the captured ships and crews hostage until ransoms are paid.