PIRACY: Somalia - Thursday, March 5, 2009
The Blue Star an Egyptian cargo ship captured in the Gulf of Aden on the 1st of January 2009 was released Wednesday by Somali pirates.

The ship and its 28 man crew have been held for ransom off the coast of Somalia by pirates for more than two months.

The Blue Star was transiting the Gulf of Aden from the Red Sea carrying a cargo og 6,000 tons of fertilizer when 15 armed pirates seized it after entering the Gulf of Aden.

Pirate attacks have continued off the East coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden regardless of the increased presence of warships deployed to protect commercial shipping.