Somali pirates free Taiwanese ship

Somali pirates have freed a Taiwanese ships held since May, just one day after two others from South Korea were released to the US Navy.

Andrew Mwangura, head of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, said on Monday that the ship and its crew, eight Kenyans and four Taiwanese, were freed from a "pirate-held port" north of Mogadishu. "The Ching Fong Hwa number 168 has been released today off Harardheere. It has been there since May," Mwangura told Reuters news agency. "We hear the crew is safe."

The United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet confirmed the release. A payment was reportedly made for the boat but Mwangura said he did not know about a ransom.

The Taiwanese vessel went free as five US warships were escorting two South Korean vessels to Yemen. The Korean ships, registered in Tanzania’s Zanzibar islands and released on Sunday, had also been held for five months.

...