Dutch Ship Hijacked Off Somalia's Coast A Month Ago Is Freed

A Dutch shipping company says a freighter hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia a month ago is free, along with its crew, and sailing toward the Suez Canal. Spokesman Lars Walder of Reider Shipping BV says its freighter Amiya Scan and its crew of four Russians and five Filipinos are unharmed. “We've spoken to the captain, and the crew are fine, doing well given the circumstances,” he says.The ship was hijacked May 25 in the Gulf of Aden, bound for Romania, and freed Wednesday. Walder says it is expected to reach safe harbor within several days. He would not say whether any ransom is being paid, as is common in piracy cases around the lawless Somali coast, so as not to jeopardize negotiations over other ships and captives.