Members of the crew were reported to be healthy and unhurt after 71 days of captivity, during which time a negotiator brought in by the dredging company dealt with the ransom negotiations. The pirates' first demand was €8 million, later parlayed down to a figure thought to be €2 million. The money was dropped off in the sea on Sunday, 28 June.

The Pompei was sailing from Dubai to Durban in South Africa when it was attacked by pirates in a small motorboat, 185 kilometres north of the Seychelles and 1,350 kilometres off the Somali coast - a distance that was, ironically, considered safe from pirates.

The ship's Dutch captain radioed the departure of the last of the pirates on Sunday morning just before 6.00. Later, one of the two Flemish officers on board contacted his wife by satellite phone to assure her all was well. "He sounded emotional," she said. "Happy, too, but tired."

A six-man team of Belgian investigators made immediate preparations to meet the crew, which also includes four Croatians and three Filipinos, when they arrived at a specified location, thought to be the Port of Salalah in Oman. The crew will be interviewed and the ship searched for evidence.

"There are hopeful signs that we may be able to identify the pirates," said federal prosecutor Johan Delmulle. "If not all of them, then some at least."