BRUSSELS, June 28 (RIA Novosti) - Somali pirates have released a Belgian ship and its crew seized in April after a ransom was paid, Belgian authorities said on Sunday, without specifying the ransom sum.
The Pompei, with a 10-member international crew, was seized on April 18 off the Horn of Africa. The crew included one Dutchman, the ship's captain, two Belgians, four Croatians and three Filipinos. The talks on their release lasted more than two months.
"At 5.43 local time this morning [03:43 GMT], the last hostage-taker finally left the ship," Jaak Raes, director general of the Belgian government's crisis centre, told a press conference.
Initially, the hostage-takers demanded 8 million euros ($11.2 million) in ransom. However, after 68 days of negotiations, the parties reached agreement, Belgian Interior Minister Guido De Padt said.
The minister said that the ransom had been paid by the ship owners - the companies Jan De Nul, Deme and Herbosch-Kiere.
Somalia has been without an effective government since the Revolutionary Socialist Party was overthrown in 1991. The internationally recognized federal government controls only the capital city of Mogadishu and part of central Somalia.
Around 35 warships from the navies of 16 countries are currently deployed off Somalia's coast to counter frequent pirate attacks on vital commercial lanes. According to the United Nations, Somali pirates carried out at least 120 attacks on ships in 2008 alone.
