The British foreign ministry said on Tuesday 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.

Ransom-hunting pirates operating out of lawless Somalia have recently been carrying out attacks well outside Somali waters in the Indian Ocean.

The ministry said it was "investigating urgently".

"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 told AFP.

Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency said an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) was activated at 2200 GMT Friday.

"The Seychelles authorities are carrying out a search and rescue operation but have found nothing so far," a spokesperson said.

"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.

"It would appear from the activation of the EPIRB that something has happened.

The world's naval powers last year started deploying warships off the Somali coast in an attempt to curb attacks that were seen as a threat to one of the globe's most crucial maritime trade routes.

The last message posted on the Chandlers' blog reads simply: "Please ring Sarah".

In a statement to AFP on Tuesday, the coastguard in Seychelles did not rule out a pirate attack, confirming that a search was underway for the sailboat.

Hijacking probability 'high'

"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.

"We are pursuing all efforts with other international partners establish to the facts," Rosette added.

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.

"The boat full of diesel, fresh water and fresh provisions," they wrote.

"We'll be at sea for eight to 12 days, maybe 14 as we are now getting into the period of transition between the south monsoon and north monsoon, so the trade winds will be less reliable and we may get more light winds.

"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."

The Seychelles said Thursday it was to deploy troops to some of its outer islands to deter Somali pirates that have been hunting their prey ever closer to the Indian Ocean archipelago nation.

President James Michel "approved the immediate deployment of the Seychelles Peoples Defence Forces to the islands" situated north and south of the main island of Mahe, a statement from the president's office said.

With 115 islands scattered inside an exclusive economic zone spanning 1.4 million square kilometres and a population of only 85 000, the Seychelles has requested foreign assistance to stave off the pirates.

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