MOGADISHU — Somali pirates said Thursday they had released a Greek cargo vessel and its Ukrainian crew after a payment of 3.7 million dollars more than six months after it was captured in the Indian Ocean.

“After serious negotiations over the past four days, the Ariana is free after the payment of 3.7 million dollars,” pirate Ahmed Abdullahi Mohamoud told AFP.

“The owners of the ship were joking for a while without understanding the seriousness of the situation,” he said by phone from Harardhere, a pirate den in northern Somalia.

The Maltese-flagged vessel was seized north of Madagascar on May 2 while on its way to the Middle East from Brazil. It was carrying 10,000 tonnes of soya beans.

The ship is owned by the Athens-based All Ocean Shipping company, which is in turn owned by a British conglomerate.

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