**A search and rescue operation is being carried out for a British couple who have disappeared while sailing their yacht in the Seychelles.**Paul and Rachel Chandler, from Tunbridge Wells , Kent, were heading for Tanzania from the Seychelles in their yacht, the Lynn Rival.
They sent a distress signal on Friday but have not been heard from since.
There has been an unconfirmed report that Somali pirates have admitted seizing the yacht.
‘Found nothing’
Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said the couple’s distress beacon was activated at 2300 BST on Friday.
They were on a 150 nautical-mile passage south-west to the Amirante Islands, en route to Tanzania when they used the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB).
A MCA spokesman said: “The Seychelles authorities are carrying out a search and rescue operation but have found nothing so far.”
It is understood that there had been pirate activity in the area earlier in the day.