TEHRAN – Somali pirates on Friday released an Iranian ship that had been hijacked off the Somali coast in August.

“The vessel, Iran-Dianat, was released on Friday morning after seven weeks of negotiations with Somali pirates,” the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines said in statement.
“All 29 members of the crew are safe and sound and the ship is sailing towards international waters,” it said.
The merchant vessel, carrying minerals and industrial products, was headed from China to the Netherlands when it was hijacked along with a German and a Japanese ship off the Gulf of Aden.
The waters off Somalia and Nigeria are the most pirate-infested in the world.
Somali pirates also freed 20 Filipino seamen from a hijacked ship they held for more than 80 days, officials said Friday.
Meanwhile, a Somali official said a ship carrying cement to the East Africa country was hijacked late Thursday. The hijacking came after NATO joined a growing international force to protect vessels off the perilous coast.
Pirates have seized more than two dozen ships off Somalia’s coast this year