(CNN) -- Five British nationals who were the crew of a racing yacht were detained by the Iranian Navy on November 25 and remain held in Iran, the British Foreign Office said Monday.
The yacht, owned by Sail Bahrain, was on its way from Bahrain to Dubai when it was stopped by Iranian navy ships, according to a Foreign Office news release. The yacht is called the Kingdom of Bahrain, according to a diplomatic source and Sail Bahrain's Web site.
The yacht "may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters," the release said.
The five crew members are believed to be safe, it said. They were identified by British government sources as Olly Smith, Sam Usher, Luke Porter, Oliver Young and Dave Bloomer.
The families of those held have been informed, it said, but their names were not immediately released.
British officials contacted their counterparts in Iran on the day the crew was stopped, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said, according to the news release.
"I hope this issue will soon be resolved," he said. "We will remain in close touch with the Iranian authorities, as well as the families."
Sail Bahrain is a project inaugurated earlier this month with the objective of bringing international sailing and water sports events to Bahrain and developing a top-class water sports academy.
