Jan Quist Johansen, his wife and their three teenage children were captured along with two crew members in February
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Jan Quist Johansen and members of his family and crew have been released by Somali pirates. Photograph: Mie Neel/AP
Members of a Danish family held hostage by Somali pirates for more than six months have been released and are returning home after enduring "the most horrible ordeal one can imagine", Danish government officials have said.
Jan Quist Johansen, his wife, Birgit Marie, and their three teenage children were captured along with two Danish crew members on 24 February when their 13 metre (47ft) yacht was seized by pirates in the Indian Ocean.
All seven "were released on Tuesday and are doing well under the circumstances", Charlotte Slente, a Danish foreign ministry spokeswoman, said. "They are in a plane on their way to Denmark," she added.
Slente declined to comment further on the circumstances of the release, and would not say whether a ransom had been paid.
The Johansens, from Kalundborg, 75 miles west of Copenhagen, were on a round-the-world journey when they approached pirate-infested waters off the Horn of Africa. Their travel blog showed they were aware of the dangers, but did not expect to get into trouble and were comforted by the sight of anti-piracy forces patrolling the area.
News of their release was met with relief in their home town. "The family very likely is aware that what they did was not so fortunate. They certainly feel pretty bad about it now," Ole Meridin Petersen, the chairman of the Kalundborg yacht club, of which Johansen is a member, said.
Hostages are held in hot, austere conditions in Somalia – typically for many months – before a ransom is agreed on and paid and hijacked ships and crew released. Last year, a British couple were released after 388 days in captivity. Reports indicated that a ransom in the region of $1m (£600,000) was paid for their release.
The Danish foreign minister, Lene Espersen, told the Danish Ritzau news agency that Denmark does not pay ransoms "as a matter of principle," adding that the family, not the ministry, had been negotiating with the pirates. The family was "advised by professional negotiators", she said.
The prime minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, said negotiations carried on for "a long period" before the hostages were freed.
"I am really happy on behalf of the family, which since 24 February has been through the most horrible ordeal one can imagine," he said. "It is important that we now give the family quiet and peace."
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