Somali Pirates Free Greek Ship - Maritime Official

The Stephanos was seized on Sept. 21 by gunmen from the Horn of Africa nation.

Somali pirates have released a Greek freighter, the MV Capt Stephanos, which they hijacked in September, a regional maritime organisation said on Tuesday.

A surge in attacks at sea this year in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean off Somalia has pushed up insurance costs, brought the gangs tens of millions of dollars in ransoms, and prompted foreign warships to rush to the area.

The Stephanos was seized on Sept. 21 by gunmen from the Horn of Africa nation. It was flying the Bahamas flag, carrying coal and had 17 Filipinos, one Chinese and a Ukrainian on board.

"The crew members' state of health is estimated as satisfactory," the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme said in a statement, adding that the ship was heading to Italy.

The group said the vessel was released late on Monday.

There have been nearly 100 attacks in Somali waters this year, despite the presence of several foreign warships. The sea gangs are holding about a dozen ships and nearly 300 crew.

Among the captured vessels are a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million of crude oil, the Sirius Star, and a Ukrainian cargo ship carrying some 30 Soviet-era tanks, the MV Faina.

The 27-member European Union agreed on Monday to launch an anti-piracy naval operation off Somalia involving warships and aircraft from several nations.

The first such naval operation by the EU will initially involve three warships -- from Greece, Britain and France, and two maritime surveillance aircraft from France and Spain.