Somali pirates have freed a British-flagged ship with 25 sailors on board more than six months after they were seized, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry says, Press TV reported.
The 45,000-ton vehicle carrier, the Asian Glory, was hijacked in the Somali Basin on January 1 with 25 crewmembers from Ukraine, Bulgaria, India and Romania.
"The Asian Glory, which has eight Bulgarian sailors on board, has been freed from pirate captivity. The ship is expected to head to Oman, escorted by a British warship," the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
While the Bulgarian authorities declined to give further details about the hijacked ship, the European Union Naval Force said the pirates had released the Asian Glory after receiving a ransom.
Somali pirates have been launching attacks against ships off the coast of lawless Somalia and East Africa. Hijackers usually make ransom demands for the release of seized ships and are believed to have collected tens of millions of dollars.