Somali pirates release German ship

Bosasso: A German ship hijacked more than a month ago by Somali pirates has been freed after a $750,000 ransom was paid, local officials said on Wednesday.

The MV Lehman Timber was seized by gunmen on May 28 in the Gulf of Aden and taken to Eyl, a small fishing port in Somalia's relatively peaceful northern region of Puntland.
One of the pirates said an English-speaking captain paid them $750,000 to release the ship.

"We took the ransom and disembarked late on Tuesday, leaving five Russians, four Panamanians, two Ukrainians and three other Asian crew members on board," he said.

The head of the Kenya-based Seafarers' Assistance Programme said the ransom had been paid by an unidentified shipping agency on behalf of the vessel's owners.

The ship, though safe in international waters, was running short of food, drinking water and fuel.

Puntland's deputy minister of ports and fisheries, Abdikadir Muse Yusuf, said the payment would likely encourage piracy in the region.