London  - The British Foreign Office is investigating reports that a British coupled sailing off the east coast of Africa in a private yacht had been hijacked by Somali pirates.

Reports said Tuesday that a news agency had been contacted by a pirate to claiming that the couple were in their hands. He 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, reports said.

"The Seychelles authorities are carrying out a search and rescue operation but have found nothing so far," a spokesman for Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency said. (dpa)