**A Russian warship has released the crew of a Russian oil tanker, Moscow University, seized by Somali pirates off the coast of Yemen on Wednesday.**The destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov approached the drifting tanker with 23 Russians on board overnight and released the crew, officials said.
The tanker was captured in the Gulf of Aden as it sailed for China.
The vessel, owned by the Russian company Novoship, is flying the Liberian flag.
“Pirates have released the tanker… All crew on board the tanker are alive and well,” a spokeswoman for the shipping company told Reuters news agency.
“During more than 20 hours of siege, pirates were not able to take a single member of crew hostage.”
The company said the crew were in a safe room that was inaccessible to the hijackers.
The Marshal Shaposhnikov was dispatched on Wednesday to rescue the tanker.This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
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