A disabled cruise ship will spend an extra 10 to 12 hours at sea without electricity, air conditioning or toilet facilities because of a row over tugs, a Seychelles minister says.

The passengers aboard a disabled cruise ship will spend 10 to 12 hours longer at sea than needed because a French vessel towing the ship refused to give way to tugboats from the Seychelles, a Seychelles government minister says.

Two security contractors - a Briton and Kenyan - and three former hostages released by Somali pirates are facing prison over an alleged plot to swap the captives for 23 suspected pirates on a desolate Somali airstrip, officials said today.