NAIROBI , Kenya ( CNN ) -- 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 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 release it by force , '' he said . The pirates had been expected to release the supertanker after receiving the ransom payment Friday , but four pirates drowned after their skiff capsized in rough seas while they were leaving the Sirius Star , according to a journalist who spoke to one of the pirates on board . Watch ransom being parachuted to ship » . There were five pirates in the skiff and one survived , the journalist said . The bodies of the other four were recovered , he said . The pirates told another journalist they received $ 3 million in ransom money but lost part of it when the skiff capsized . `` Initially , the gunmen were demanding $ 25 million for its release but the latest reports indicate that the demand had been lowered to below $ 3.5 million , '' Mwangura said . Meanwhile , pirates also have released the MV Delight , an Iranian chartered ship carrying wheat from Germany , Mwangura said . It was captured in November . Details were not immediately available . Hijackings off East Africa are a cause of growing international concern , spurring a number of international navies to patrol the pirate-wracked Gulf of Aden . Dozens of ships have been attacked in the gulf by pirates based in a largely lawless Somalia in recent months . See how pirate attacks are on the rise » . Campbell said the number of attacks may have gone up in recent months , but the number of successful hijackings has gone down . She attributed that to measures taken by merchant ships , such as vigilant keeping of watch and evasive ship maneuvers , and the increased naval presence in the at-risk areas . Campbell stressed , however , that they are only preventive measures . `` Piracy is a problem that starts on the shore , '' she said . `` The international community needs to address the situation on the ground in Somalia . '' CNN 's David McKenzie contributed to this report .
NEW : Second hijacked ship also released . Pirates release Saudi-owned oil supertanker after receiving ransom . All crew members on Sirius Star are safe , according to piracy monitor . Four pirates drowned , some ransom lost after skiff capsized in rough seas .