'Kingdom of Bahrain' held by Iran - Britons on board

12:54 AM Tue 1 Dec 2009 GMT

'Kingdom of Bahrain, Sail Bahrain’s VO60' Sail Bahrain

Five Britons are being detained in Iran after Tehran's navy seized their yacht, which may have strayed into Iranian waters in the Gulf, the Foreign Office said yesterday (Monday).

The racing yacht crewed by five Britons 'was stopped by Iranian naval vessels, on its way from Bahrain to Dubai and may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters,' the FO said. The crew aboard 'The Kingdom of Bahrain' were Oliver Smith, Oliver Young, Sam Usher, Luke Porter and David Bloomer, according to informed sources in London. The boat was arrested while sailing to Dubai for the start of the Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race.

The yacht is owned by Sail Bahrain, and run by Team Pindar.

Previous incidents involving foreigners being seized by Iranian authorities include in November 2005 when Frenchman Stephane Lherbier and German Donald Klein were arrested for entering Iranian territorial waters in a fishing boat, and were each sentenced to 18 months in jail.

The two men said they had been misled by Emirati maps showing the waters as belonging to the UAE. Both were freed after serving 14 months.

And in March 2006, two Swedish nationals, Stefan Johanssen and Jari Hjortmar, were arrested for taking pictures of military installations on Iran's southern island of Qeshm and sentenced to two years in prison. They were released after a year behind bars.

by Katherine Haddon, AFP

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'Kingdom of Bahrain' held by Iran - Britons on board

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