Two Germans freed by Somali pirates off the coast of Somalia after being held captive for five weeks have been flown to Nairobi, a regional maritime official said on Sunday.
Andrew Mwangura, East African Coordinator of the Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP), told Xinhua the 63-year-old Juergen K and the 51-year-old Sabine M, who were kidnapped on June 23 this year, are expected to fly to Germany early next week.
"The couple, identified as Juergen and Sabine, arrived in Nairobi this (Sunday) afternoon from Somalia en-route to Germany. The gunmen abandoned the Yacht Boat on the shores and disappeared into the mountains," said Mwangura, who met the couple in Nairobi on Sunday.
"The couple complained a lot that they were harassed. It was not clear if the full ransom had been paid to free the hostages from the pirates' mountain stronghold, although initial reports indicate that some big money exchanged hands," he said.
Sources in Puntland, northeast Somalia, told Xinhua Saturday that the kidnapers released the hostages after accepting a ransom half of the amount they initially demanded.
The German couple was kidnapped from their yacht while under way through the Gulf of Aden on a trip from Egypt to Thailand.
The pirates ransacked their yacht and then took them to northern Somalia by speedboat.
Pirate attacks against fishing boats, cargo ships and yachts off Somalia's coast have surged over recent months. Foreigners, who can be exchanged for large ransoms, are frequent targets.
Somalia's coastal waters are close to shipping routes connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and the country's interim government lacks the resources to police the country's coastline.
The UN Security Council voted in June to allow countries to send warships into Somalia's waters to tackle the pirates.
Meanwhile, Mwangura said talks are ongoing to positively release a Panama flagged bulk carrier, MV Stella Maris, and her crew.
Twenty Filipino seamen were among those on board the Panamanian registered ship that was hijacked by pirates off Somalia as it was sailing to the Gulf of Aden on July 22.
MV Stella Maris was drifting towards the Gulf of Aden when it was seized by the pirates.
The International Maritime Bureau said more than 25 ships were seized off Somalia's 3,700 kilometers of coastline last year despite patrols by an international force based in Djibouti.