Bosasso, Somalia - Somali security forces freed a Panamanian ship from pirates on Tuesday, officials said, two days after they killed one of the hijackers in a gun battle.
The Wail was seized by Somali gunmen on Thursday as it carried cement to Bosasso from Oman. There are thought to be nine Syrian and two Somali crew members on board.
"We have succeeded in saving the Panama-flagged ship and its crew," Ali Abdi Aware, state minister for the northern Puntland region, said.
"The pirates have surrendered and the ship is in our hands now."
Puntland's commerce minister, Abdisamad Yusuf Abwan, confirmed the ship had been rescued and said it was slightly damaged after a shoot-out on Sunday in which one pirate and one Somali soldier were killed.
Somali pirates have hijacked more than 30 ships so far in 2008 and received ransoms totalling $18-30-million (about R166-277-million).
In the highest profile case so far, ransom talks are continuing after they seized a Ukrainian vessel, the MV Faina, which was loaded with 33 T-72 tanks and other weaponry.