The Russian crew of the Thai Union 3 fishing vessel, who were in Somali pirates' captivity for over four months, returned early on Monday to the city of Kaliningrad happy but meager, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported.

The Thai Union 3 tuna fishing vessel with 23 Russians, two Filipinos and two Ghanaians on board was hijacked by two pirate skiffs about 370 km (200 nautical miles) north of the Seychelles October 29. It was released on March 7 after a ransom was paid.

A plane carrying the Russians landed in Kaliningrad airport Khrabrovo after midnight March 15. The fishermen were met by relatives, friends and journalists.

"We always wait for our husbands with joy and excitement, but we have never before had to experience such suffering," Tamara, the wife of fisherman Leonid Gerasimov, told RIA Novosti.

Thai Union is a Thai group of companies exporting canned tuna.

Pirates based in Somalia, which has been without an effective government since 1991, hijacked more than 40 vessels in 2009, and have already seized two this year.

KALININGRAD, March 15 (RIA Novosti)