British yacht believed to have been seized by pirates (Roundup)

Oct 27, 2009, 15:52 GMT

London - International naval teams launched a massive search operation Tuesday for a British couple believed to have been seized by Somali pirates while sailing in a private yacht off the coast of east Africa.

The Foreign Office said it was investigating reports that the couple could have been hijacked on their journey from the Seychelles to Tanzania, but there was no official confirmation of their fate.

Reports said Tuesday that a news agency had been contacted by a pirate claiming that the couple was in their hands. The man said the captives were healthy and ransom demands would follow.

Paul and Rachel Chandler, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, went missing after sailing from the Seychelles towards Tanzania on October 22 in their yacht, the Lynn Rival.

The BBC said the kidnap was likely to have taken place the next day south-west of the Amirante Islands. Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said the yacht's distress beacon was activated late last Friday.

Combined Task Force 151, an international naval response unit set up to combat Somali pirate attacks, are involved in the search along with NATO and European Union (EU) counter piracy teams.

A spokesman for the EU Naval Force Somalia said: 'Our ships will be scouring the seas on their normal passage and monitoring the airwaves.' He said the yacht had gone missing in 'fairly dangerous waters' but there had been no confirmation it had been hijacked by pirates.

A Royal Navy spokesman said HMS Cumberland was one of the ships involved in the piracy crackdown. 'We are doing everything we can to assist the Foreign Office in investigating this.'

The Seychelles authorities are also carrying out a search and rescue operation, but said there was so far no proof the yacht had been seized.

'We don't know what has happened and cannot speculate,' said a Seychelles coastguards spokesman.

In Britain, family members said they 'feared the worst' for the couple which had postponed their voyage several times because of the threat posed by pirates in the Indian Ocean off the east African coast.

Leah Mickleborough, a niece, said the couple were passionate sailors. 'They do sailing, they live for this, but they are not naive ... they are not the sort of people who would put themselves deliberately in danger.'

However, Nick Davies, chief executive of the Merchant Maritime Security Office in London, said the Chandler's would have sailed 'into the lion's den.'

If piracy was confirmed, Davies said he would advocate that the British government should 'pay a small ransom,' contrary to its official policy.

'Money is the lesser of two evils in this case,' Davies told the BBC. 'There is otherwise no effective solution to the piracy problem in a lawless country and coastline,' he said.