A Scottish seaman was free today after Somali pirates announced they had released a Saudi supertanker seized last year with its $100 million cargo.
A Scottish seaman was free today after Somali pirates announced they had released a Saudi supertanker seized last year with its $100 million cargo.
The Sirius Star, hijacked in the Indian ocean in November, was carrying two British crewmen.
James Grady, from Renfrewshire, the second officer, and chief engineer Peter French, from County Durham, were among 25 people being held on the ship.
The Sirius Star was seized when pirates attacked it on November 15, more than 420 miles off the coast of Somalia.
The captives had earlier said the pirates had not mistreated them.
The 330 metre ship, owned by the shipping arm of oil giant Saudi Aramco, was the largest yet taken among the scores of vessels held by pirates in the region.
"All our people have now left the Sirius Star. The ship is free, the crew is free," Mohamed Said, one of the leaders of the pirate group, told the AFP news agency.
"There were last-minute problems but now everything has been finalised.
"No member of the crew or of the pirates was hurt during this hijacking."
The ransom paid for the ship's release has not been revealed. The pirates originally demanded $25 million but recently that appeared to have been reduced to $3.5 million.
