Nov 17, 2009

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali pirates on Tuesday freed a Spanish tuna fishing boat hijacked last month and said a $3.5 million ransom had been paid for the vessel and its crew.

The release of the Alakrana, seized along with its 36 crew in the Indian Ocean on October 2, came soon after news that pirates had captured another ship, a Virgin Islands-owned chemical tanker heading for Mombasa.

"The sailors of the Alakrana are free and will be coming home," Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told a news conference in Madrid.

One of the pirates said the hijackers had left the ship, which had now set sail.

"Our last colleagues left the ship and it was freed," the pirate, who gave his name as Nor, told Reuters. "I think it has sailed away now. The crew is safe and said goodbye to us and to Somali waters."

The European Union naval force said the Alakrana had made contact with two Spanish warships in the area and confirmed that all pirates had disembarked and it had enough fuel on board.

"The captain also reported that the crew of 36 were in good health," a naval force statement said. "The Spanish warships will escort Alakrana to safety."