There are unconfirmed reports that a yacht with three British citizens on board has been hijacked by Somalian pirates in the Indian Ocean.

The Foreign Office has confirmed that it is ‘aware of this report’ and is trying to check the information.

Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, told Reuters his organisation had been told that a yacht had been boarded by pirates near the Seychelles.

He said: ‘We as yet don’t have the name of the yacht nor do we know the gender of the crew, but we are trying to verify this information which we learnt of this evening (Monday).’

But Mr Mwangura said that other reports had suggested that the yacht was hijacked near Lamu Island off Kenya or near Brava in southern Somalia.

This latest incident comes more than a year since British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler were kidnapped by Somalian pirates in their Rival 38, while sailing from the Seychelles to Tanzania and they are still being held hostage in the lawless African nation.

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