MOGADISHU, Somalia — With a Spanish warship nearby, a $3.3 million ransom was delivered by boat Tuesday, and Somali pirates freed a Spanish trawler and its 36 crew members.
Spain’s prime minister did little to deny paying off the hijackers — one reason the lucrative attacks are on the rise.
“The government did what it had to do,” Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said at a news conference in Madrid. “The important thing is that the sailors will be back with us. The first obligation of a country, of the government of a state, is to save the lives of its countrymen.”
Somali pirates attacked two more ships Monday and still hold about a dozen ships with more than 200 crew, including a British couple who were taken from their 38-foot sailboat last month.
Ali Gab, a self-described pirate, told The Associated Press the hijackers of the Spanish tuna boat Alakrana were paid $3.3 million in ransom, delivered by boat as sailors aboard a nearby warship watched.
After being freed, the trawler steamed away under the protection of two Spanish warships. All crew members were reported to be in good health after more than six weeks in captivity.
Britain has refused to pay ransom for Paul and Rachel Chandler, whose boat — the Lynn Rival — was taken by pirates Oct. 23.
Authorities believe the Chandlers, who are in their 50s, are being held on land in Somalia. Pirates have demanded $7 million for their release — money the Chandlers’ relatives say the couple doesn’t have.
