A European Union naval force says Somali pirates have released a Thailand-flagged fishing vessel they had held since last October.
The EU anti-piracy mission (EU NAVFOR) says pirates Sunday released the Thai Union 3 from the port of Harardhere after the payment of a ransom.
The size and source of the payment was not disclosed.
The fishing vessel has a crew of 23 Russians, two Filipinos, and two men from Ghana. The ship's captain was wounded when pirates hijacked the boat October 29 in Indian Ocean, north of the Seychelles islands.
Somali pirates have made tens of millions of dollars hijacking ships for ransom over the past few years.
On Saturday, the EU force confirmed that pirates had hijacked a Norwegian chemical tanker with a 21-member Burmese crew. The UBT Ocean was traveling from the United Arab Emirates to Tanzania when it was seized.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
