Monti asked Ali at a meeting in Rome “to do everything in his power” to liberate the Enrico Ievoli cargo ship, which has six Italians, five Ukrainians and seven Indians on board, the government said in a statement.
Ali assured Monti “of his personal engagement in aiding the liberation of the Italian ship and its crew, underscoring his government’s strong commitment to preventing the scourge of piracy,” the statement said.
The ship, which was carrying 15 750 tons of caustic soda from the United Arab Emirates to the Mediterranean, was boarded by pirates on December 27 off the coast of Oman, just days after another Italian vessel was released.
The same ship had already been attacked by pirates in 2006 off Yemen.
A total of three hijacked Italian vessels were freed from Somali pirates in November and December 2011, two of them reportedly following ransom payments.