"The ship was freed yesterday afternoon. The pirates had received five million from the owners the previous day," Abdi Yare, a pirate commander in the central Somali coastal town of Hobyo, told AFP.

"Our colleagues in Puntland had taken this ship a few months ago... It was released from Eel Dhanaane and it is now sailing free," Yare said.

Eel Dhanaane is a small village which lies between the pirate lairs of Hobyo and Garaad, further north.

The 20,377 tonne MV Thor Nexus was on its way from Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates with a crew of 27 from Thailand and a cargo of fertiliser when it was captured.

According to Ecoterra International, an NGO monitoring maritime activity in the region, Somali pirates still hold more than 40 vessels which have been confirmed hijacked and around 700 seafarers.

The group says several others ships, mainly small fishing vessels, are missing and believed to have been captured.