Somali pirates have released a Jordan-flagged ship that they seized last week off the coast of the conflict-ridden East African nation, a maritime official said Friday, according to DPA. "It has been released and is heading to (Somalia's capital) Mogadishu with two Somalia security officers on board," Andrew Mwangura, the head of the East Africa Seafarers Assistance Program, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. Mwangura said the MV Victoria was released in the early afternoon of Friday. The vessel, which is owned by a United Arab Emirates company, was sailing from India to Mogadishu with 4,200 tons of sugar on board. The ship has a crew team of 10-12 sailors from various nations including Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Tanzania. Piracy is rife off the Somali coast, with the most recent high- profile case being the capture of a luxury French yacht in April and the ransom of its crew members.
