Canadian Press
Sunday, October 19, 2008
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MOGADISHU, Somalia (CP) — A Somali minister says pirates have released a hijacked cargo ship believed to be owned by a Thai company after receiving a ransom.
Ali Abdi Aware says the ship was let go Saturday but he does not know how much ransom was paid or how many crew were on board.
Aware is the foreign affairs minister for the semiautonomous northern Somali region of Puntland.
The Horn of Africa nation has not had an effective government since 1991.
Somalia has become the world's piracy hotspot. About 29 ships have been hijacked off Somalia's long coastline this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
U.S. warships are still surrounding another hijacked ship, the MV Faina, to keep Somali pirates from unloading its cargo of battle tanks and heavy weapons.
Source: Canadian Press, Oct 19, 2008