Somali pirates who in September seized a Ukrainian vessel carrying tanks and other weapons have left the ship, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service said Thursday.

"The pirates have in fact left the ship. A U.S. military frigate is heading to our ship Faina," Mikola Malomuzh told a news conference.

"We hope the ship will leave the anchorage for Kenya tomorrow morning, escorted by the U.S. Navy," he said, adding that Faina's journey to Kenya would last four to six days.

Asked about the military cargo aboard the Faina, Malomuzh said, "The cargo will be delivered to the customer."

"It is being awaited by the defense minister and General Staff chief in Kenya. Representatives of the Ukrspets export arms trader, and officials with the Kenyan Defense Ministry will be at port Mombasa, too, to receive the cargo," he said.

After the cargo is registered and checked, it will be passed over to the Kenyan Defense Ministry, he said.

Faina was seized by pirates off Somalia on Sept. 25, 2008. The ship is carrying 33 T-72 tanks plus other weapons reportedly intended for Kenya.

There were 21 crew members aboard the ship, including 17 Ukrainian citizens, three citizens of Russia and one citizen of Latvia. The captain, Russian citizen Vladimir Kolobkov, died of heart failure soon after the ship was captured.

Faina's owner paid 3.2 million U.S dollars Wednesday to get the ship released.

(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2009)