Ship runs ashore after being released by pirates

A cargo ship with a Russian captain has run into new trouble just days after being released by pirates.

The Lehmann Timber was held captive for more than a month off the coast off Somalia.

The pirates were reportedly paid a ransom of $US 750,000 to release it.

After being freed on Tuesday, it headed for a safe port but has run aground.

The 15 crew members have reportedly been unable to start the engine for over a day and have sent out a distress signal.

A U.S. ship is said to be on the way to help.

“We're in distress. The engine hasn’t been working for over 24 hours. We ran aground when a severe storm broke out. We've no food left at all. We're expecting help from a military ship, but we don’t know when it'll arrive,” Valentin Bortashov, Captain of Lehmann Timber, said.