Somali pirates release hijacked South Korea ship
Somali pirates have released a South Korean fishing vessel that was hijacked four months ago with 43 sailors aboard, the country's foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
The 241-ton trawler Keummi 305 is sailing to international waters after being freed, the ministry said in a statement.
The crab fishing vessel carrying two South Koreans, two Chinese and 39 Kenyans was hijacked on October 9 in the Indian Ocean off the Kenyan island of Lamu.
The vessel and its crew had been taken to a pirate stronghold in Northern Somalia.
Yonhap news agency quoted an unnamed foreign ministry official as saying no ransom was paid. The vessel's owner went bankrupt due to financial troubles, complicating ransom negotiations.
Piracy has surged in recent years off Somalia, a lawless, war-torn country that sits alongside one of the world's most important shipping routes.
Since 2006 at least three South Korean vessels have been seized and released after ransoms were paid.
A South Korean supertanker was hijacked last April on its way from Iraq to the US state of Louisiana with a crew of five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos.
The 300,000-tonne Samho Dream and its crew were released in 2010 after a reported $9 million payment.
Somali pirates hijacked a South Korean chemical tanker in the Arabian Sea on January 15, but the ship and its crew were rescued by South Korean naval commandos in a dramatic raid six days later.
Eight pirates were killed while all 21 crew were rescued. The Police said the pirates shot and critically wounded the ship's South Korean captain.
The captured Somalis have been taken to the southern port of Busan and formally arrested for suspected maritime robbery, attempted murder and ship hijacking.
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