Somali pirates on Friday released a UN-chartered aid vessel they hijacked this week as it offloaded cargo at a port in the south of the lawless country, the shipowner and World Food Programme (WFP) said.
The pirates left the MV Miltzow just hours after Somalia's transitional prime minister made an urgent plea for foreign warships to patrol the coast and bring an end to a surge in violent attacks on commercial ships in Somali waters, they said.
It was not clear if the appeal played a role in the release of the Miltzow, which was seized Wednesday at the port of Merka, about 100 kilometres (65 miles) south of Mogadishu, and taken further south to Barawa, they said.
Karim Kudradhi of the Mombasa, Kenya-based Motaku Shipping Agencies which owns the St Vincent and Grenadines registered Miltzow, said the pirates abandoned the ship at 2:00 am (2300 GMT Thursday) at Barawa.
"The ship is already in Merka port, the crew is unharmed, the relief food is intact and offloading has started," WFP spokeswoman Anja du Tiot said, adding that the pirates had demanded a 20,000-dollar (16,700-euro) ransom. "We are not aware whether any money was paid," she told AFP, stressing that WFP had not and would not pay ransom.
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