Seven Indians, who were on board a hijacked Hong Kong-registered ship MV Delight, were safe after Somalian pirates released the vessel, the Directorate General of Shipping said in Mumbai on Sunday.

The pirates released the vessel and 25 crew members onboard on Friday night, it said in a statement.

MV Delight, chartered by Iran, was hijacked from the Gulf of Aden on November 18. Other than the seven Indians, the crew included two Pakistanis, seven Filipinos, seven Iranians and two Ghanians.

The ship was carrying 38,000 tonnes of wheat.

The pirates seized the Delight on its way to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.

Last year, pirates operating off the Somali coast had carried out more than 130 attacks in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, turning the region into the world's most dangerous waters.