The Egyptian government has successfully negotiated the release of a vessel and its crew captured by Somali pirates earlier this month.

The vessel was released on Friday after weeks of negotiations for the ship which was attacked on September 4 in the Gulf of Aden off the Puntland coast, Egypt's MENA news agency reported.

The Mansourah is on its way back to Egypt and “all crew members are feeling well,” the report added.

The Egyptian government has not made any details of the negotiations public such as whether or not they had paid the enormous ransom demand reported earlier.

This happy ending comes on the heels of another ship-jacking by Somali pirates who are demanding 35 million dollars for the release of a Ukrainian ship and its 21-member crew taken on Thursday. The ship was transporting military supplies, including 33 tanks to Kenya.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said earlier that apart from the substantial military cargo, there are three Russian, 17 Ukrainian and one Latvian national on board the Faina.

The UN Security council passed a resolution in June permitting international vessels to patrol the coastal waters to ward off pirates. France and Russia have both committed vessels to the endeavor.

Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said earlier, "We are planning to participate in international efforts to fight piracy off the Somalia coast, but the Russian warships will conduct operations on their own."

The crumbling and ineffective Somali Transitional Federal government has lead to the shores of the Horn of Africa becoming notorious for open-water heists with more than 30 major incidents reported this year alone.

JC/RA