NAIROBI, Jan 9: Somali pirates said on Friday they had freed a Saudi-owned supertanker, whose capture nearly two months ago caused panic in international shipping and spurred the world into tougher anti-piracy action.

The 330-metre Sirius Star, owned by the shipping arm of oil giant Saudi Aramco, was seized far off the east African coast on Nov 15, in what was the pirates’ most daring attack and largest catch to date.

“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 AFP by telephone from the pirate lair of Harardhere.

“There were last-minute problems but now everything has been finalised.” Sahafi Abdi Aden, another of the group’s leaders speaking from the same town on Somalia’s Indian Ocean coast, also said the hijacking was over.

“I am in Harardhere now and the issue of the Sirius Star was resolved peacefully. I cannot go into the details of the agreement but I can say that the ship is free,” he told AFP.

“No member of the crew or of the pirates was hurt during this hijacking.” The amount of the ransom paid for the ship’s release was not known yet.

Pirates had told AFP days after seizing the Sirius Star they wanted $25 million for its release.

Sources close to the negotiations said $3 million was delivered to the pirate group onshore on Thursday. A dispute briefly erupted between the pirates over how the ransom money should be distributed.Vela International, Saudi Aramco’s shipping arm, would not immediately confirm or deny the news of its ship’s release.

“We decline to comment for the moment,” a spokesman said.

The US-led Combined Maritime Forces which contributes to anti-piracy efforts in Somali waters stressed that the Sirius Star’s release was only a small step in stemming the phenomenon.

“The men who attacked the ship and held the crew hostage are armed criminals and consequently, we must remain steadfast in our efforts to address the international problem of piracy,” said Commodore Tim Lowe, deputy CMF commander in a statement.The Sirius Star was manufactured in South Korea and delivered last year. It is believed to be worth around $150 million and its cargo was estimated at the time of the hijacking at $100 million.

The crew of the Sirius Star is made up of 25 people from Britain, Croatia, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and Poland, where the ship’s captain hails from.

Pirates operating off Somalia’s coast, in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, have carried out more than 130 attacks in 2008 alone.

—AFP