Pirates shot skipper Seok Hae-Kyun, 58, three times during Friday's dramatic raid by South Korean navy commandos on the Samho Jewelry, a 11,500-ton freighter hijacked on January 15 in the Arabian Sea.

Eight pirates were killed and five seized while 21 crew members were rescued. All crew were unhurt apart from the skipper.

Seok underwent an operation in hospital in Oman and is in intensive care, awaiting further surgery to remove bullets and reconnect leg bones shattered by gunshots.

Local media have hailed him as one of the heroes of the operation, which was praised Wednesday by a top visiting US official.

Military officials said Seok stalled for time by steering his ship in a zigzag course and mixing water in engine oil, despite constant threats from his captors.

A medical team, accompanied by Seok's wife and son, arrived in Oman Wednesday to check if the skipper is fit enough for a long flight home, a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP.

Omani doctors believed the skipper could endure air travel, he said, adding that a special plane equipped with beds, emergency equipment and medical supplies would be sent to Oman to bring him home.

But Yonhap news agency said Seok's departure could be delayed because his condition worsened Wednesday.

"Captain Seok may have to undergo an additional operation today because of infection in his wounded side," a South Korean official in Oman was quoted as saying.

The rescue was a major morale boost for the South's military, which faced strong domestic criticism for a perceived weak response to North Korea's shelling of a border island in November.

US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, at the start of talks with Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan, offered congratulations for the rescue.

"We were very impressed. We know what a challenge that is, but it really reflects the skill and determination of your military forces and something you deservedly should feel proud of," Steinberg said.

Kim said Tuesday that South Korea intends to put the captured pirates on trial and Yonhap reported that they could face up to life in prison if convicted of hijacking and wounding.

"Although it is too early to determine how the prosecution of the Somalis would be carried out, there will be no legal hurdle to indict and put them in local courts under South Korean criminal law," Kwon Jeong-Hoon, a justice ministry official, told the news agency.

"We have been reviewing overseas cases and jurisprudence to find possible charges against them."

The captured pirates, detained in a destroyer, may arrive in South Korea in early February, Yonhap said.

Defence Minister Kim Kwan-Jin said language barriers meant it would take time to interrogate the pirates.

He also attributed the success of the rescue to an overwhelming attack and carefully planned tactics by navy commandos, who fired a stun grenades to incapacitate the pirates.

He said he monitored every move through remote cameras installed on each commando's headgear, which sent real-time video images of the mission to his office in Seoul.

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