20100731
Garowe Online

Somali pirates on the early morning hours of Thursday released the Maltese flagged merchant vessel MV FRIGIA that they were holding for the past four months, Radio Garowe reports.

The ship was hijacked on 23 March 2010 and the crew held hostage for 128 days.

The pirates seized the ship approximately 1000 nautical miles east of the Northern Somali coastline according to a press release that was released to media houses by the European Union naval force in Somalia (EUNAVFOR).

The ship with a dead weight of approximately 35,000 tonnes was with a crew of 21, 19 of them were Turks and two Ukrainians.

Somali pirates have caused havoc at the Gulf of Aden hijacking merchant ships and marine vessels that use the Indian Ocean as a transit and demand millions of dollars in terms of ransom from the ship owners.The ship was hijacked on 23 March 2010 and the crew held hostage for 128 days.

The pirates seized the ship approximately 1000 nautical miles east of the Northern Somali coastline according to a press release that was released to media houses by the European Union naval force in Somalia (EUNAVFOR).

The ship with a dead weight of approximately 35,000 tonnes was with a crew of 21, 19 of them were Turks and two Ukrainians.

Somali pirates have caused havoc at the Gulf of Aden hijacking merchant ships and marine vessels that use the Indian Ocean as a transit and demand millions of dollars in terms of ransom from the ship owners.