A British man kidnapped by Somali pirates told British television by telephone yesterday that he and his wife were seized by armed men who stormed their yacht in the dead of night.

"We were in the waters 100 kilometres from Victoria in the Seychelles," Paul Chandler told Britain's ITV News from the container ship off the Somali coast where he is being held.

"Boats came alongside. I was off watch, I was asleep, and men with guns came aboard. It was on Friday last week at 0230 (2230 GMT)."

The couple were sailing across the Indian Ocean from the Seychelles to Tanzania when they were captured and forced to sail towards Somalia.

Asked if his kidnappers had demanded any ransom, Mr Chandler said: "Not officially. They kept asking for money and took everything of value on the boat. They haven't asked formally for money yet, but that's what they want, we know.

"We are at the moment in the captain's cabin of the container ship Kota Wajar," he said. The Singaporean-flagged vessel was seized by pirates earlier this month.

"We are hostage together with this ship."

He said the boat was at anchor 1.6 kilometres off the Somali coast.

Contact was lost when Mr Chandler was asked how he was being treated. An ITV News spokesman said they were contacted by the pirates and were able to speak to Mr Chandler through a complicated series of phone calls.

Mr Chandler's brother-in-law Stephen Collett confirmed it was his voice heard during the call, the spokesman added.