Watch plane dropping cash for MV Abdullah release

In a video, an airplane can be seen dropping bags of cash onto the ocean while MV Abdullah sailors stand on deck.

According to top officials of the ship's owner KSRM Group, the video shows MV Abdullah and the sailors, 23 of whom had been taken hostage but were freed on 14 April after 33 days in captivity. A sailor onboard the ship captured the video and sent it to the KSRM officials.

The officials, however, declined to comment on the ransom amount paid to the Somali pirates.

A Reuters report says Somali pirates released a hijacked ship, MV Abdullah, and its crew of 23 early on Sunday after a $5 million ransom was paid, according to two pirates.

"The money was brought to us two nights ago as usual... We checked whether the money was fake or not. Then we divided the money into groups and left, avoiding the government forces," Abdirashiid Yusuf, one of the pirates, told Reuters.

Somalia government officials did not respond to a request for comment.

The MV Abdullah, a Bangladesh-flagged bulk carrier - a type of merchant ship used to transport large amounts of cargo - was hijacked in March as it was heading from Mozambique to the United Arab Emirates.

The hijacking happened about 600 nautical miles east of Somalia's capital Mogadishu.

Somali pirates caused chaos in the waters off the country's long coastline from about 2008 to 2018. They had been dormant until late last year when pirate activity started to pick up again.

Maritime sources say pirates may be encouraged by a relaxation of security or may be taking advantage of the chaos caused by attacks on shipping by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group while war rages in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

MV Abdullah and its 23 crew members were safely released through negotiations with the pirates, using the experience of the 2010 hostage situation involving their ship "Jahan Moni", according to the KSRM Group. 

"Our other ship 'Jahan Moni' was hijacked in 2011. It took us a long time to rescue the ship because we lacked experience. However, using that experience, we were able to quickly rescue MV Abdullah this time," said Meherul Karim, CEO of KSRM Group, at a press conference held at the company's office at 12:00 pm in Chattogram's Agrabad Goasail Danga on Sunday.

The MV Jahan Moni was rescued after 100 days of being hijacked with a $4 million ransom.

He added that all the sailors and crew of the ship are safe and sound. No one was harmed.

However, when asked about the ransom, Meherul Karim declined to comment.