A Panama-flagged ship held by Somali pirates for ransom for almost two years has been released.
The pirate chief, Hassan Abdi, told the Associated Press that the MV Orna cargo ship was freed after a US$600,000 (Dh2.2 million) ransom was paid on Friday.
But he added that six hostages were still being held on land.
Pirates shot dead one of the crew members in August over delayed payments. Abdi said other ships towed the vessel away because it had run out of fuel. The Orna was hijacked 400 nautical miles north-east of the Seychelles in December 2010.
* This article has been corrected since it was published. A previous version of this article stated that the MV Orna was UAE-flagged, when it is in fact Panama-flagged.