Sailors freed after eight months

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Eleven Indonesian sailors have been released by Somali pirates almost eight months after their ship was hijacked.

The crew of the Malaysian tugboat Masindra 7 were captured in mid-December as they sailed to Male, Maldives, an EU spokesman said.

A ransom was paid for the release, a Kenyan-based NGO, Ecoterra International, told AFP news agency.

Somali piracy attacks in the Gulf of Aden and the wider region have prompted many nations to send warships there.

A few dozen patrols - including from Russia, China, the US and Malaysia - are currently patrolling an area of about two million sq miles (five million sq km) off the Somali coast.

European Union naval spokesman Lt Cmdr Daniel Auwermann said the release of Masindra 7 came on Saturday.

The tugboat belongs to a Malaysian company, Masindra Shipping Pvt Ltd.

Many of the piracy attacks end with the payment of ransom.