Somali Pirates Get Paid for Panama-Flagged Ship

Somali pirates have received a $3.1 million ransom for a Panamanian-flagged ship they have been holding onto since October.

“Some of our friends have already disembarked and the rest will get off the ship soon,” one of the pirates, Hassan, told Reuters by telephone from the coastal pirate base of Haradheere. “We hope it will peacefully sail away in the coming hours.”

Although the Somali pirates took quite a few ships hostage in 2009, it is believed that the ship is the MV Al Khaliq seized October 22, west of the Seychelles, with 24 Indians, 2 Burmese and a load of wheat grain aboard.

Photo of Somali Pirate Abdul Hassan, nicknamed "The One Who Never Sleeps"