British special forces have freed an Italian cargo ship hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia earlier this week, the Italian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. The Montecristo, with a crew of seven Italians, six Ukrainians and ten Indians, was boarded and hijacked by five armed men who approached the vessel in a small boat. The operation was carried out jointly by the Italian and UK defense ministries. Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa is scheduled to hold a news conference on the issue later in the day. Piracy has surged off the Horn of Africa in recent years, especially off the east African nation of Somalia, which has had no functioning central government for two decades. As of late September, Somali pirates were estimated to hold at least 504 hostages on 30 large ships, 18 smaller foreign vessels and one stranded barge, according to international piracy watchdog Ecoterra International. The toll includes two Italian vessels: the Savina Caylyn, seized in February, and the Rosalia D\'Amato, hijacked on April 21.