German Shipping Company: Seized Ship Freed From Pirates

BERLIN – A German shipping company says its cargo ship seized by Somali pirates off the coast of Kenya has been freed.

Spokeswoman Verena Beckhusen for the shipping company Beluga-Reederei told The Associated Press the cargo ship Beluga Fortune was freed Monday, one day after pirates hijacked it.

The shipping company says the German military rescued the ship in cooperation with the anti-pirate mission Operation Atalanta and that the pirates escaped.

Beluga-Reederei says no crew members were injured and that the ship was on its way to South Africa as planned.