(CNN) -- The Somali pirates who hijacked an Egyptian ship nearly 10 months ago have released it and the crew of 23 after receiving an air-dropped ransom of $2.3 million, officials said Tuesday.
The MV Suez, laden with a cargo of cement, was sailing toward Eritrea under a Panamanian flag when it was hijacked August 2 by dozens of Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Its crew of 11 Egyptians, six Pakistanis, four Indians and two Sri Lankans were taken hostage.
"The hijackers fed the sailors small amounts of rice," said Mohamed Sobhi, deputy chairman of the Red Sea Navigation Co. "They need medical attention, and it was tough on their families. The ship should be protected by NATO forces to avoid another disaster on the way back."
The pirates had threatened to kill the the hostages on several occasions if the ransom was not paid, and their deadlines were extended when they were told the payment was being arranged, Sobhi said.
Abdel Magid Mattar, chairman of Red Sea Navigation, which owns the ship, said the company paid $1.45 million and Pakistani donors paid another $850,000, and the crew was released over the weekend.
"The Foreign Ministries of Pakistan and Egypt assisted in the negotiations during the 10 months to ensure the release and safety of the sailors kidnapped while delivering the cement on board the merchant ship," Mattar said.
A helicopter dispatched from South Africa dropped the money to the pirates. The 17,300-ton merchant vessel was expected to arrive at the Suez Canal within a week, Mattar said.
Ansar Burney, a Pakistani-based human rights activist, conducted the negotiations with the pirates and raised the ransom money from Karachi, Mattar said.
The Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen, has been the site of numerous pirate attacks on merchant vessels.
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