Pirates release cargo vessel

13:16, 9 June 2011

MOGADISHU. June 9. KAZINFORM Somali pirates have freed a Chinese-owned cargo vessel they had held for nearly seven months off the lawless Horn of Africa country, pirates and a regional maritime expert said on Wednesday; Kazinform refers to Arab News.

Owned and managed by Ningbo Hongyuan Ship Management Ltd, the Panama-flagged cargo carrier Yuan Xiang was seized on Nov. 12 and its 29-strong Chinese crew taken hostage. "We have freed the Chinese ship. We have received ... the agreed ransom this morning and the ship has already sailed away," a pirate who identified himself as Hussein told Reuters by telephone from the pirate haven of El-Dhanane.

Andrew Mwangura, a Kenya-based former maritime official and now maritime editor of the Somalia Report confirmed the release but said he did not know whether a ransom had been paid. Owned and managed by Ningbo Hongyuan Ship Management Ltd, the Panama-flagged cargo carrier Yuan Xiang was seized on Nov. 12 and its 29-strong Chinese crew taken hostage; Kazinform cites Arab News.

For full vesrion go to www.arabnews.com

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