A couple from Tunbridge Wells are feared to have been captured by Somali pirates after disappearing from their yacht in the Indian Ocean.
Paul Chandler, 58, and his wife Rachel, 55, had been sailing between the Seychelles and Tanzania when they sent a distress signal off the coast of Somalia.
They have not been heard from since.
The Royal Navy has launched a search and rescue mission in Somalian waters, an area of the Indian Ocean notorious for attacks on ships and smaller boats.
Fears for the couple's safety were growing today after a pirate called Hassan told Reuters press agency: "The British couple are in our hands now.
"We captured them as they were touring in the Indian Ocean."
He said the two prisoners were in good health and that ransom demands would follow. He added that the couple and their yacht were being taken back to land.
It is believed they were being taken to the lawless Somali port of Haradheere by the pirates.
Mr and Mrs Chandler had been sailing around the Mediterrean and Indian Ocean for much of the last three years, between visits back to their home in Tunbridge Wells.
Their latest voyage has seen them spend several months around the tropical paradise of the 115 islands making up the Seychelles.
The Seychelles are famed for their white sand beaches and clear blue sea, making them a luxury holiday destination for thousands of Britons every year, particularly honeymoon couples.
The Foreign Office said the couple had been heading west from the Seychelles for Tanzania on the east African coast in their 38ft yacht, the Lynn Rival, which is a 500-mile journey.
Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the couple's Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) was activated at 11pm on Friday, when their boat was 60 nautical miles out of the port of Victoria in the Seychelles.
They had warned friends on their blog that they expected to spend up to 14 days at sea and were due to stop off at the Amirante Islands on the way, which is 150 nautical south-west of the Seychelles, before continuing for the 350-mile sail west to Tanzania.
This would have taken them through notoriously dangerous waters where gangs of heavily armed Somali pirates prey on commercial and private boats.
Their choice of route has drawn criticism from some commentators on sailing websites, who said they should have known about the piracy threat.
But Mr and Mrs Chandler had written on their blog that they believed the threat had subsided.
They wrote: "The seas around the Seychelles are now too rough for the pirates to operate in."
But the last message on their blog dated October 23 reads: "Please Ring Sarah."
A Foreign Office spokesman said it was investigating reports of their disappearance and is in touch with the couple's family.
He said: "We are aware of the report. We are investigating urgently."
British sailor Malcolm Robertson, 64, was killed and his wife held hostage after pirates boarded their yacht off Thailand in March.
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