Somali pirates holding a British couple kidnapped from their yacht have demanded a ransom of $US7 million ($A7.64 million) to set them free, Britain's Foreign Office says.
"We're aware of it, we can confirm it," a spokesman said on Friday after the BBC played a tape of what it said was a spokesman for the pirates outlining their ransom demands for Paul and Rachel Chandler.
The BBC tape featured a man's voice saying: "If they do not harm us, we will not harm them. We only need a little amount of seven million dollars".
The Chandlers, who are aged 59 and 55, were sailing off the Somali coast on their yacht, the Lynn Rival, when pirates boarded their boat and took them hostage last Friday.
They were sailing across the Indian Ocean from the Seychelles to Tanzania when they were taken and their 12-metre yacht was later found empty by Britain's Royal Navy.
They were later held in a Singapore-flagged container ship that was seized by pirates earlier this month but are now thought to have been moved again.
The couple have spoken to British broadcaster ITV by telephone. An anxious-sounding Rachel Chandler said on Friday that the couple were "safe" and "healthy" and that their kidnappers were "very hospitable people".
The Foreign Office spokesman could not say what Britain's next steps would be as it tries to free the Chandlers, or whether a negotiator was in place. Britain's stated policy is not to pay ransoms in such situations.
British officials have held talks on the situation at the Cobra emergency briefing room, which is used at times of emergency or disaster.
Paul Chandler's brother-in-law Stephen Collett has previously insisted that the couple are "not rich people" and that most of their money is tied up in their yacht.
Stephen Collett was among relatives of the couple who met Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke for talks in London on Wednesday.
The Somali premier has said: "I want to give my assurance to the family that my government will do everything it can, within its resources, to find this couple and return them safely."
The apparent pirate spokesman defended the size of the ransom demand in the call to the BBC, criticising the "negative" impact of NATO operations in the region.
"They have destroyed a lot of equipment belonging to the poor local fishermen. They arrest fishermen and destroy their equipment. In defiance to our local administrations, they illegally transfer the fishermen to their own prisons and to the prisons of other foreign countries," he said.
"So when you consider the damage and all the people affected, we say the amount is not big".
While most of the more than 100 ships hijacked in the region since the beginning of 2008 have been merchant or fishing vessels, pirates have also seized more vulnerable targets such as private yachts.
Somali pirates, who have launched almost daily attacks near the Seychelles since monsoon winds dropped a month ago, currently hold a total of nine ships and around 200 crew.
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[article_id] => 1122227
[headline] => Pirates want $US7m ransom for UK couple
[abstract] => Somali pirates holding a British couple kidnapped from their yacht have demanded a ransom of $US7 million to set them free, Britain's Foreign Office says.
[keywords] => Somalia Pirates
[content] =>
Somali pirates holding a British couple kidnapped from their yacht have demanded a ransom of $US7 million ($A7.64 million) to set them free, Britain's Foreign Office says.
"We're aware of it, we can confirm it," a spokesman said on Friday after the BBC played a tape of what it said was a spokesman for the pirates outlining their ransom demands for Paul and Rachel Chandler.
The BBC tape featured a man's voice saying: "If they do not harm us, we will not harm them. We only need a little amount of seven million dollars".
The Chandlers, who are aged 59 and 55, were sailing off the Somali coast on their yacht, the Lynn Rival, when pirates boarded their boat and took them hostage last Friday.
They were sailing across the Indian Ocean from the Seychelles to Tanzania when they were taken and their 12-metre yacht was later found empty by Britain's Royal Navy.
They were later held in a Singapore-flagged container ship that was seized by pirates earlier this month but are now thought to have been moved again.
The couple have spoken to British broadcaster ITV by telephone. An anxious-sounding Rachel Chandler said on Friday that the couple were "safe" and "healthy" and that their kidnappers were "very hospitable people".
The Foreign Office spokesman could not say what Britain's next steps would be as it tries to free the Chandlers, or whether a negotiator was in place. Britain's stated policy is not to pay ransoms in such situations.
British officials have held talks on the situation at the Cobra emergency briefing room, which is used at times of emergency or disaster.
Paul Chandler's brother-in-law Stephen Collett has previously insisted that the couple are "not rich people" and that most of their money is tied up in their yacht.
Stephen Collett was among relatives of the couple who met Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke for talks in London on Wednesday.
The Somali premier has said: "I want to give my assurance to the family that my government will do everything it can, within its resources, to find this couple and return them safely."
The apparent pirate spokesman defended the size of the ransom demand in the call to the BBC, criticising the "negative" impact of NATO operations in the region.
"They have destroyed a lot of equipment belonging to the poor local fishermen. They arrest fishermen and destroy their equipment. In defiance to our local administrations, they illegally transfer the fishermen to their own prisons and to the prisons of other foreign countries," he said.
"So when you consider the damage and all the people affected, we say the amount is not big".
While most of the more than 100 ships hijacked in the region since the beginning of 2008 have been merchant or fishing vessels, pirates have also seized more vulnerable targets such as private yachts.
Somali pirates, who have launched almost daily attacks near the Seychelles since monsoon winds dropped a month ago, currently hold a total of nine ships and around 200 crew.
[start_date] => 31 October 2009 | 12:49:07 PM
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[caption] => Paul Chandler and his wife Rachel were captured by Somali pirates, after they hijacked their luxury yacht. (AAP)
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[label] => Hostage tells of pirate ordeal
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[label] => Pirates hijack UK couple's yacht
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[label] => EU warships capture seven pirates
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[headline] => Hostage tells of pirate ordeal
[abstract] => A British man being held by Somali pirates has told how he and his wife were taken hostage after armed men stormed their yacht.
[content] =>
A British man being held by Somali pirates has told how he and his wife were taken hostage after armed men stormed their yacht in the dead of night.
Paul and Rachel Chandler were sailing across the Indian Ocean from the Seychelles to Tanzania when they were captured and forced to sail towards Somalia.
"I was off watch. I was asleep and men with guns came aboard," Mr Chandler told the UK's ITV News, speaking by phone from off the Somali coast where he is being held.
"They (the pirates) kept asking for money and took everything of value on the boat," he said. "They haven't asked formally for money yet, but that's what they want, we know."
ITV reported that the Chandlers were being held by armed gunmen on board the Kota Wajar container ship 1.6km off the Somali coast.
Chandler's brother-in-law Stephen Collett confirmed it was his voice heard during the call.
Collett was among the couple's family members who met visiting Somalian Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke on Wednesday.
Ransom demand expected
"We do expect a ransom demand," Mr Collett told the BBC. "The problem is they are not rich people.
"Most of their money is tied up with the yacht and other communications equipment which is on board the yacht."
The Chandlers' 11.6-metre yacht, the Lynn Rival, was found empty by Britain's Royal Navy, which said it had no reason to believe the couple had been harmed.
UK authorities are continuing to call for the Chandlers to be released unhurt.
"Hostage taking is never justified," said a Foreign Office spokeswoman.
"Paul and Rachel are blameless tourists and they should be released immediately and unconditionally.
"The families are deeply concerned for the safety of their loved ones. Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff are in close contact with them and offering support."
[content_type_id] => 3
[site_name] => World News Australia
[articledate] => 30 October 2009
[articletime] => 30 October 2009
[display_order] => 1
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[article_id] => 1119577
[headline] => Pirates hijack UK couple's yacht
[abstract] =>
A British couple reported missing while sailing from the Seychelles to Africa are feared to have been captured by Somali pirates who hijacked their yacht.
[content] =>
Somali pirates say they have hijacked a yacht with two foreigners on board, most likely a British couple reported missing since leaving the Seychelles last week.
The hijacked yacht was heading back to the pirate lair of Harardhere in central Somalia, but the pirates could not formally identify the two hostages.
"We don't know their nationality yet but I can tell you that we have a small boat with two people on board. They are coming to Harardhere, and only then can we start negotiating," Abdi Yare said.
"This was an unexpected catch because nobody could have predicted that two people on their own would have dared to venture out in the Indian Ocean at this time," said Yare, speaking by phone from Harardhere.
Another local pirate leader, who refused to be named, explained that the yacht was attacked by two pirate skiffs.
"Thirteen pirates on two speed boats snatched this small boat very far from the Somali coast," he said, without specifying the exact date of the hijacking.
Coastguard search under way
The European Union's anti-piracy naval mission said it had spotted a yacht in the area.
"We have spotted a sailing yacht in the Indian Ocean towing two skiffs generally used by pirates. We are not able to confirm that this is the same yacht we are looking for the last few days," said Lieutenant Commander Daniel Auwermann.
"They are heading to the coastline of Somalia, of which they are 200 miles away. We cannot confirm anything more. Investigations are still ongoing."
The British foreign ministry earlier said it was urgently trying to locate a British couple whose yacht sent a distress signal while sailing near pirate-infested waters, and has not been seen since.
Paul Chandler, 58, and his wife Rachel, 55, were heading from the Seychelles towards Tanzania in their 11.6-metre yacht the Lynn Rival when their emergency beacon went off on Friday.
"We're in touch with the family in the UK and the Seychelles coastguard, which continues to monitor the situation and has conducted a search of the area," a spokeswoman said.
Emergency beacon activated
Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency said an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) was activated on Friday.
"They had left the Seychelles on October 22 and were going on a 150-nautical-mile passage southwest to the Amirante Islands, en route to Tanzania," the spokeswoman said.
The coastguard in the Seychelles has not ruled out a pirate attack, confirming that a search was under way for the sailboat.
"We are monitoring the situation and at the present moment there is no confirmation that the Lynn Rival has been taken by pirates, even if the probability of hijacking is high," said coastguard commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Michael Rosette.
On Wednesday, the Chandlers said they were running in a replacement outboard motor, completing departure formalities and expected to leave the Seychelles the next day.
"We probably won't have satellite phone coverage until we're fairly close to the African coast, so we may be out of touch for some time," they wrote.
Anti-piracy taskforce
The hijacking of the yacht brings to eight the number of boats currently in pirate hands, together with more than 150 crew.
Since last year a flotilla of foreign warships has been patrolling the piracy-plagued Gulf of Aden, one of the globe's busiest maritime trade routes.
Pirates have since redeployed to the Indian Ocean, a much wider area very difficult for naval forces to patrol effectively.
Since the start of October, subsiding monsoon winds have allowed pirates equipped with small skiffs to resume their operations in earnest after a lull that had seen the number of hijacked vessels drop to two.
Among their latest catches are an Indian cargo ship, a Spanish trawler with a crew of 36, a Singapore container ship with 21 crew members and a Chinese bulk carrier with a crew of 25.
[content_type_id] => 3
[site_name] => World News Australia
[articledate] => 28 October 2009
[articletime] => 28 October 2009
[display_order] => 2
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[article_id] => 1120187
[headline] => EU warships capture seven pirates
[abstract] => European Union warships have captured seven suspected pirates off the coast of Somalia after two fast boats attacked a French fishing vessel, the EU says.
[content] =>
European Union warships have captured seven suspected pirates off the coast of Somalia after two fast boats attacked a French fishing vessel, the EU's naval force said on Wednesday.
Soldiers aboard the fishing vessel fired on the pirates after they attacked it some 650km east of Mogadishu on Tuesday, said a statement.
A German warship was dispatched to the scene, while a helicopter from a nearby Spanish naval vessel was launched and located the two skiffs trying to flee the area.
"The helicopter fired warning shots to stop both skiffs, after which the pirates stopped and were seen throwing items, presumably pirate paraphernalia, overboard," the statement said.
The seven were arrested by personnel from the German warship - FGS Karlsruhe - when it arrived in the area.
[content_type_id] => 3
[site_name] => World News Australia
[articledate] => 28 October 2009
[articletime] => 28 October 2009
[display_order] => 3
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