Fifth Fleet , the tanker is more than three times the size of a U.S. navy aircraft carrier . Pirates seized the supertanker November 15 . The tanker was carrying two million barrels of crude oil worth about $ 100 million . The Liberian-flagged tanker is owned by Vela International Marine Ltd. , a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian-based Saudi Aramco . Saleh K'aki , president and CEO of Vela International , said in a statement , `` We are very relieved to know that all crew members are safe and I am glad to say that they are all in good health and high spirits . This has been a very trying time for them and certainly for their families . We are very happy to report to their families that they will be on their way home soon . '' Mwangura said it would have been a `` disaster '' if the pirates had fired guns aboard the ship , harming the cargo or igniting a fire . `` The capture of the Sirius Star raised the specter of an environmental disaster should the hijackers decide to turn the ship into a weapon or foreign navies attempt to
NAIROBI , Kenya -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Pirates holding a Saudi-owned oil supertanker off the coast of Somalia have set the vessel free after receiving a ransom payment , a piracy monitor in neighboring Kenya and the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet said Saturday . A small aircraft drops a ransom payment during a flight over the Sirius Star on Friday . `` The supertanker VLCC Sirius Star is currently under way to safe waters , '' Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya Seafarers Association said in an e-mail . Mwangura said all 23 crew members of the Sirius Star , the largest ship ever hijacked by pirates , are safe and in good health . They are citizens of Croatia , Great Britain , the Philippines , Poland and Saudi Arabia . `` Anytime a ship is released , it is positive news , '' said Cmdr. Jane Campbell of the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet . `` But too many people see it as a ship and its cargo being released . When merchant mariners are released , it is always good news . '' The ship is a VLCC , or `` very large crude carrier . '' According to the