All 24 Vietnamese members of the crew on the Mongolia-flagged cargo ship Hoang Son Sun owned by Vietnam safely returned home today after eight months under detainment by Somalian pirates.

Captain Dinh Tat Thang (C) of the pirated Hoang Son Sun cargo ship returns home at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi on Sept.23

They landed at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi at 15:00pm Friday. They all look emaciated in crumpled clothes and carry almost no luggage. They said they were beaten and ill treated during the period.

On January 17, 2011, the ship with the 24 crew members was pirated off the coast of Oman when they were on the way from Iran to Xiamen Port in China.

At the moment, the ship with a loading capacity of 23,000 tons was carrying cargo valued at US$2 million, according to Hoang Son Company based in Vietnam’s central province Thanh Hoa – owner of the ship.

No information on the payment of ransom has been revealed, but Hoang Son Company vice director Hoang Son had announced his estimates early this year that ransom would be at least $5 million.

The ship and its cargo and crew members are all under conventional marine insurance which is not valid for cases of piracy and wars, according to the company.

During a month since the Christmas in 2010, Somalian pirates have attacked six ships off Oman coast and were keeping 30 other ships with over 700 crew members for ransom.