The EU Naval Force Somalia – Operation Atalanta has confirmed that the UK-flagged tanker St. James Park has been freed by Somali pirates, announced the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

Vesela Cherneva explained that the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry has been informed that the Somali pirates have released the hijacked British ship, Saint James Park which carries 26 crew members, five of whom Bulgarians, but have no clear data as to the vessel's movements.

“We will give more information once the ship is out of the 600-mile zone and officially free,” added Cherneva.

The British-flagged ship with five Bulgarians on board is heading for the Sultanate of Oman, Bulgaria's foreign ministry announced.

Another crew will take over the St James Park chemical tanker there, after which the five Bulgarian sailors on board will be able to return to their home country, the statement said.

The case will be considered closed once the ship is out of the 600-mile danger zone.

The ship left the port of Somalia's port of Garacaad, where the sailors have been held hostages since the end of December last year till Thursday when the ransom was dropped.

It was not immediately clear how much money was paid.

A statement of the European Union anti-piracy mission (Eunavfor) said the ship "is now safely under way and Eunavfor is continuing to monitor the situation", bur did not provide any further details.

The ship was on its way to Thailand on December 28, 2009, when pirates hijacked it in the Gulf of Aden, a body of water between Somalia and Yemen.

The 13,924-tonne ship's 26 crew hail from Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Georgia, India, Turkey and the Philippines.

It was carrying a cargo of chemicals used to make plastics when it was seized.

The Bulgarian-flagged chemical tanker MV Panega was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden Tuesday night despite the fact that it was a part of a EU Navfor Somalia convoy.

So far the negotiation team of the ship's official operator, Navigation Maritime Bulgare, had been unabale to get in contact with hijackers and discusss their demands.

With the hijacking of the MV Panega, a total of 28 Bulgarian sailors are in held hostage by Somali pirates.

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