Four Britons taking part in a charity rowing race across the Indian Ocean have gone missing off the coast of Mauritius, the small island nation off Africa.

The crew, all British expatriates who live in New Zealand, have not made contact with their support team or race organisers since Friday when they were last reported to be 500 miles from the finish line in Mauritius.

The 3,100 nautical mile Indian Ocean Rowing Race, which started in Australia, was won by another British crew last Thursday. However the crew of the Rowing for Prostate boat have not been heard from since they spoke to logistics manager Alan Gwyer in New Zealand four days ago.

The crew – Tom Wigram, 30, Matthew Hampel, 32, Chris ‘Billy’ Gammon, 35 and former Royal Navy Seaman Pete Staples, 38 – are all amateur rowers and have now been at sea for over 71 days. They usually report back to their support team in Auckland twice a day.

Mr Gwyer said despite their relative inexperience at sea, their support team – which includes their wives – were not too concerned for their welfare as they think the lack of contact is most likely due to a technical issue with the boat’s communications equipment.

The crew’s satellite phone has stopped working intermittently over the past few weeks and they have had problems with a solar panel charging batteries. Mr Gwyer said the boat’s two EPIRB emergency beacons had not been activated, which gave their family and friends hope that the men were not in trouble.

A race support team is on its way to the last known location of the crew, but is not expected to get there until Thursday. Mr Gwyer said the Mauritian Navy is also on standby and local shipping vessels have been notified to keep a look out for the crew of four.

“They were in good shape and in good spirits when I spoke to them last Friday,” Mr Gwyer told The Times.

“They did have some power problems going on, and they were concerned about their food supply because some of it had been contaminated by water, but they were managing it.

“At this stage we are not too concerned, but in a couple of days we’ll be starting to get a little edgy if we haven’t heard from them.”

The men were rowing in a 29 ft, four-man boat – named the Yorkshire Warrior – which had been formerly owned by the British Army.

According to Mr Gwyer, weather conditions at their last known location were not too bad, with 15-20 knot winds and waves of about three to five metres.

The race, which began on April 19, was an inaugural race across the Indian Ocean. Advertised as the world’s longest rowing race, 11 crews – including sculls, pairs, fours and an eight – raced the 3,100 nautical miles from Geraldton in Western Australia to Mauritius. Five retired from the race before it finished.

Last Friday a British crew – Nick and Phil McCorry, 25 and 24, Matt Hellier, 20, from Bexhill, East Sussex, and Ian Allen, 25, from Sevenoaks, in Kent – became the first to win the Indian Ocean Rowing Race after 68 days at sea.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• How I lost the gift of joy for a while
• Why Ann Widdecombe has got it wrong
• Alas, it’s the end of the road for petrolheads