Somali pirates release Belgian ship's crew

BRUSSELS: Somali pirates have released the entire crew of a Belgian ship kidnapped two months ago after a ransom was paid, the government said Sunday.

The 10-member crew of the Pompei dredger were in good health, it said. Defense Minister Pieter De Crem told a news conference a ransom was paid for the release of the hostages.

He declined to say how much, but said pirates had demanded $8 million.

The money was dropped onto the deck of the Belgian vessel on Saturday from a helicopter, De Crem said.

The ship and its crew of two Belgians, a Dutch, three Filipinos and four Croatians were seized April 18 a few hundred miles north of the Seychelles islands as they were sailing to South Africa.

Despite international navy patrols, piracy has exploded in the Gulf of Aden and around Somalia's 1,900-mile (3,060-kilometer) coastline. Pirates are able to operate freely because Somalia has had no effective central government in nearly 20 years.

Seasonal monsoons have hampered pirate activity recently and the relative lull is expected to continue until at least the end of August, when the rough weather subsides, according to the London-based International Maritime Bureau.