The government confirmed that a South Korean tanker abducted by Somali pirates over seven months ago was released Saturday along with its 24 crew members.
"Samho Dream was released around 11 p.m. and is headed to a safe zone in a third country, escorted by the South Korean Navy ship Wanggeon," a foreign ministry official said.
The 300,000-ton tanker Samho Dream was seized in the Indian Ocean on April 4 while en route to the United States from Iraq. The ship was carrying five South Korean and 19 Philippine crew members along with some $170 million worth of oil.
All the crew members have been confirmed safe, an official from the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program (EASAP) told Yonhap News Agency. The EASAP is a piracy monitoring group based in Mombasa, Kenya.
British news agency Reuters reported the pirates have been paid $9.5 million for the release of the tanker and its crew members.