A British man has described the terrifying moment when he and his wife were taken hostage by Somali pirates.

In a brief telephone conversation arranged by their captors, Paul Chandler said that they had boarded his yacht in the Indian Ocean, west of the Seychelles, in the early hours of last Friday as he and his wife, Rachel, 55, slept. Mr Chandler, 59, said that the couple were being held one mile off the coast of Somalia on board a Singapore-registered ship, the Kota Wajar, which was hijacked earlier this month. It is believed that they were later taken ashore.

“I was off watch,” Mr Chandler told ITV News. “I was asleep and men with guns came aboard.” He said that the pirates had forced them to sail towards Somalia. When questioned whether his captors had asked for a ransom, Mr Chandler replied: “Not officially. They kept asking for money and took everything of value on the boat.” He was then asked how he was being treated but the line went dead.

Mr Chandler later spoke briefly to the BBC and said they were being treated well. He did not know whether negotiations were taking place or whether he and his wife were in Somalia. Asked if he had a message for his family or the British Government, he replied: “Nothing I can say.”

The couple’s abandoned yacht, the Lynn Rival, was found by a Royal Navy ship in international waters.

Dahir Dabadhahan, a Somali fisherman, said that two boats carrying the Chandlers arrived in the village of Ceel Huur, near the pirate stronghold of Harardhere, early yesterday.

Mohamed Shakir, a pirate commander, told The Times that the pirates wanted to speak to the Chandlers’ family. “We want their family’s contact now. They must be worried about their safety. We are not gangsters, we know humanity.” He said that the Chandlers must be rich because they had travelled far and had money on their yacht.

Yesterday morning’s phone call with Mr Chandler began with an ITV journalist Angus Walker passing on a message from Mrs Chandler’s brother, Stephen Collett. “Stephen says everyone here is fine. We are all thinking of you and just hope you are both well — can’t wait to speak to you and see you,” he said. Mr Chandler laughed as he replied: “Well, that’s awfully nice.”

Leah Mickleborough, the couple’s niece, told The Times: “I think he laughed partly to make us feel better. He’s putting a brave face on.”

Mr Collett told BBC News: “We do expect a ransom demand. The problem is they are not rich people. Most of the money is tied up with their yacht.” He described the Lynn Rival as a “very basic sailing vessel”.

Gordon Brown called on the pirates to release the Chandlers, who live in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. “Piracy and the taking of hostages is unacceptable in any circumstances,” he said.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said that the Government was “using all the mechanisms at our disposal to try to ensure that there is a safe return of these two British hostages”.

The next phase of the couple’s ordeal is likely to be a drawn-out ransom negotiation. Previous hostages have recounted how they were guarded day and night by men armed with AK47 rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, pistols and knives. Sailors released in August after four months in captivity on board the Italian-owned Buccaneer described mock executions and death threats.

Mr Chandler, a quantity surveyor, and his wife, an economist, disappeared after sailing from the Seychelles towards Tanzania. The couple, who took early retirement about three years ago, have spent several six-month spells at sea.

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