Somali Pirates Free Iranian Vessel

Somali pirates today abandoned the hijacked Iranian vessel SAAD 1. The ship was hijacked five months ago and had been anchored off Somalia’s Indian Ocean port of Garacad. On Sunday, the pirates set sail in the captured ship, but they encountered the Italian frigate Scirocco that was patrolling nearby. The pirates then abandoned SAAD 1 and returned to Garacad in a dinghy, said Shona Lowe, the NATO anti-piracy spokeswoman [AP, 18 March].