Five seafarers who were taken hostage by pirates off Nigeria have been freed, Polish officials said Tuesday.

The Polish crewmen had been abducted from the 9,597-dwt multipurpose shipSzafir (built 1992) on 27 November, as TradeWinds has reported.

“They are safe and sound, and will soon return home,” Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Artur Dmochowski said.

The men are under the protection of Polish consular services in Nigeria.

Protracted