The families of two British officers being held by Somali pirates said that they hoped the men would be “home safely very soon” after ransom negotiations began.

Chief engineer Peter French and second officer James Grady, of the supertanker Sirius Star, were named by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office this afternoon.

Mr French and Mr Grady were among 25 crewmen on the ship when it was attacked at the weekend. Mr French is married and has a 17-year-old daughter

The Foreign Office statement said: “The families of Peter French, from Co Durham, and James Grady, from Strathclyde, greatly appreciate the concern that has been expressed by people throughout the UK and beyond, about Peter and James.

“They hope that Peter and James will be home safely to their families very soon.”.

The Sirius Star — the biggest tanker ever hijacked — is carrying a cargo of two million barrels of Saudi oil worth more than $100 million (£70 million). It was boarded by pirates more than 400 nautical miles from the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

The Saudi Foreign Minister confirmed today that its owners — Vela International Marine — were negotiating a possible ransom. Prince Saud al-Faisal did not confirm whether a ransom was likely to be agreed. Vela international refused to confirm that negotiations had started.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said that the Royal Navy was co-ordinating the European response to the incident.

A man who claimed to be involved in the seizure said that a cash ransom would have to be delivered to the tanker.

The alleged pirate, identified as Farah Abd Jameh, said: “Negotiators are located on board the ship and on land. Once they have agreed on the ransom, it will be taken in cash to the oil tanker.

“We assure the safety of the ship that carries the ransom. We will mechanically count the money and we have machines that can detect fake money,” the man said on an audio tape produced by the Dubai-based television network Al-Jazeera television

He did not indicate the amount to be paid.

The message came as two more ships were seized by Somali pirates in the past 24 hours: a Greek bulk carrier and a Thai fishing boat, despite a large international naval presence in the waters off the lawless country. An Iranian cargo ship was also hijacked earlier in the week.

Further attacks came as an Indian navy vessel claimed to have sunk a Somali pirate “mother ship” in the Gulf of Aden, the world's most treacherous waterway.

INS Tabar, an Indian frigate dispatched last month to the area to protect the country's merchant fleet, sighted the suspected pirate vessel late yesterday. Indian officers said they spotted pirates moving on the deck with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and automatic weapons.

“On repeated calls, the vessel's threatening response was that she would blow up the naval warship,” the Indian Navy said in a statement.

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