Somali pirates released an Algerian cargo ship with a crew of 25 on Thursday.

Since Jan. 1, the pirates held the MV Blida and crew hostage after it was hijacked in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman. The crew consists of 17 Algerians, 6 Ukrainians, 2 Filipinos, a Jordanian, and an Indonesian.

“Somali pirates released the Blida ship with five of our compatriots on board,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “The ship has been deployed to a safe port.”

The ministry noted that there are currently “no Ukrainian sailors held in the captivity of pirates.”

Thursday’s release comes just two days after Somali pirates hijacked a Greece-owned chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia.

There has been an upswing in pirate attacks this year, especially in the Indian Ocean, according to a recent report from the International Maritime Bureau.

Compared with 2010‘s figures, attacks are up 22 percent in January to September, the report added. However, pirates were less successful overall in actually hijacking ships.

Last week, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron announced that British ships will be able to carry armed guards on board to deter pirate attacks.