11 men kidnapped in 2010 win freedom from pirates after years of horror

ELEVEN crewmen held hostage by Somali pirates for more than three years of horror have won their freedom, say regional government and United Nations officials, Reuters reports.

Some were beaten with gun butts, locked in containers, and had the skin of their palms torn with pliers, said London's Daily Telegraph.

The men served on the Malaysian-owned, 1,066-TEU Albedo, hijacked 900 miles (1,500 kilometres) off Somalia in November 2010 while sailing from the United Arab Emirates to Kenya.

"They are all healthy," said Abdi Yusuf Hassan, the interior minister of Galmudug region of Somalia. He said no ransom was paid. Seven of the ship's crew were released in 2012 while four others drowned when the ship sank last year.

The number of attacks by Somali pirates has fallen over the last two years due to increased naval patrols and the widespread use of shipboard armed guards. 

UN's envoy to Somalia Nick Kay said the 11 crewmen have been flown to Kenya and will be sent back to their respective countries in coming days.

The surviving 11 from an original crew of 23, there were seven from Bangladesh, two from Sri Lanka, one from India and another from Iran. Among the crewmen who did not survive, one was shot while four others drowned. 

According to the Daily Telegraph the seamen were held ashore under poor conditions after the ship sank in a storm in July 2013. 

The men escaped with the help of some of their captors in the early hours of June 6 and fled to a nearby village where they were taken in by a government-affiliated militia. 

Few had shoes, some had only their underclothes, but they managed to escape through a window to reach safety. They were collected and accommodated in a hotel.

The Pakistani crewmen were freed after a Pakistani businessman raised a US$1.2 million ransom.

At one point, the entire crew were packed into an empty swimming pool without food or water for three days. The ship's captain, Jawad Khan, bore the brunt of the hijackers' anger as he tried to keep them calm. On one occasion, he was tied up and lowered into the sea as pirates sprayed bullets around him.