Two sailors have been kidnapped by armed pirates after their German-flagged yacht was hijacked in the Strait of Lombok off the coast of Bali in Indonesia.

Early reports say the two managed to contact family members via text message and conveyed that the attackers had used physical force against them.

The location of the 20-metre vessel, called Faraway, is still unknown, and no ransom request has been received. The yacht is registered to owner Diana Christa Lorens, who is thought to be one of the two on board.

Reportedly, Indonesian police and German officials in Indonesia received word of the hijacking on 28 October and are conducting a search for the missing sailors and their yacht.

A representative from the Indonesia Police Department said: “We have [been] ordered to carry out search tasks to the maximum and to investigate the accident. We understood about the accident from a text message from a passenger on board. The owner of the yacht, Diana Christa Lorens, made a short call to her family, but after that they communicated only by text messages.”

The German sailors were on an around the world trip when the pirate attack occurred.