BEIJING, Feb 8: A Chinese fishing boat and its 24-member crew held by Somali pirates for three months were released on Sunday, China’s foreign affairs ministry said.

The ship, the Tianyu No 8, which was hijacked on Nov 14, was released at 0900 GMT, the foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.

The ministry credited Chinese diplomats in Kenya and Ethiopia as well as the ship’s owners, the Tianjin Ocean Fishing Company, with helping secure the release, but gave no further details.

It said the crew, which included 15 mainland Chinese and one Taiwanese sailor, were in the care of the Chinese navy and were undergoing health checks.

The ministry did not give the nationalities of the other eight crew members, but previous media reports had said there were four Vietnamese, three Filipinos and one Japanese on board.

—AFP