A Russian warship¹ has released the crew of a Russian oil tanker², seized by Somali pirates off the coast of Yemen on Wednesday.

一艘俄国军舰成功解救本周三在也门海域遭索马里海盗拦截的油轮船员。

Numerous pirate groups are holding more than 350 hostages

The destroyer Marshal（元帅，司仪） Shaposhnikov approached the drifting tanker with 23 Russians on board overnight and released the crew, officials said.

The tanker was captured in the Gulf³ of Aden as it sailed for China.

The vessel⁴, owned by the Russian company Novoship, is flying the Liberian flag.

"Pirates have released the tanker... All crew on board the tanker are alive and well," a spokeswoman for the shipping⁵ company told Reuters news agency.

"During more than 20 hours of siege（围攻，包围） , pirates were not able to take a single member of crew hostage."

The company said the crew were in a safe room that was inaccessible⁶ to the hijackers.

The Marshal Shaposhnikov was dispatched（派遣） on Wednesday to rescue the tanker.