ROME: Somali pirates have freed an Italian oil tanker hijacked in February with five Italians and 17 Indians on board after more than 10 months in captivity, the Italian government said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Mario Monti "expressed his great satisfaction for the release of the Italian ship Savina Caylyn and the crew," it said in a statement.
The crew and their families had faced "a harsh test" over the past months, it added, without providing details on how the ship came to be released.
The Corriere della Sera and Repubblica newspapers quoted the Nairobi-based Somalia Report website as saying that a ransom of $11.5 million (8.8 million euros) had been paid but the foreign ministry denied it had paid any money.
"The Italian government never contemplated the possibility of a direct negotiation with the pirates or the payment of ransom for the liberation of the hostages, which is expressly banned by legislation," the ministry said.
It also said that "military action had been avoided so as not to put in danger the security of the hostages," adding that the liberation was the result of "constant pressure" on Somali authorities to make "every possible effort".
The 105,000-ton tanker owned by Naples shipping company Fratelli D'Amato was seized on February 8 after five pirates aboard a skiff opened fire on it with rocket launchers and submachine guns near the Yemeni island of Socotra.
The ship had tried to evade capture by speeding up, suddenly changing gear and firing powerful water jets on the pirate boat.
The tanker was on its way from Sudan to Malaysia and was carrying a load of crudeoil for the Arcadia commodities trading company.
The Savina Caylyn was the last Italian ship in Somali pirate hands.
A merchant ship captured in April off the coast of Oman with six Italians and 15 Filipinos on board was released in November after a ransom was reportedly paid, dropped off from a small plane into pirate hands.
In October, British and US commandos operating under a NATO-led mission raided a hijacked Italian vessel, capturing the pirates and freeing the carrier's crew of 23 including seven Italians, 10 Ukrainians and six Indians.
Somali pirates are currently holding 199 people hostage as part of their ransom business, the EU's anti-piracy mission NAVFOR said earlier on Wednesday.
Since the start of the EU NAVFOR counter-piracy mission in December 2008, 2,317 seamen have been held hostage for an average of nearly five months.
"This humanitarian tragedy is especially pertinent over Christmas, a time when families normally gather to celebrate," NAVFOR said in a statement.
It said many hostages were tortured and abused and some killed by hijackers.
The Italian government in October signed a protocol with shipowners' association Confitarma allowing the presence of military forces or private guards on board merchant vessels, although it is not yet operational.
Other European countries including Britain, France, Greece and Spain have also made legal arrangements to allow armed guards to board certain vessels.
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