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The VLCC Sirius Star, the largest vessel ever hijacked by Somali pirates, has been released, according to reports appearing in a section of the Western media. Also freed were its crew, numbering 25, including two British officers. The captors were paid $3 million in ransom though they had asked for up to $25 million, say the reports. The 319,430-dwt Saudi tanker was hijacked off the Kenyan coast in November while sailing from the Gulf to the US with a ca rgo of crude. Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre is hopeful of suppressing piracy off the Horn of Africa. The centre’s Chief Mr Noel Choong has been quoted in Lloyd’s List as saying that the coalition naval forces are capturing the pirates and handing them over to the authorities.

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