A South African man who escaped capture when his boat was hijacked by Somali pirates described the ordeal Monday, saying he had been beaten and threatened with guns, media reported.

"It was a scary experience. They beat me and threatened us with guns. I refused to leave the yacht and I was prepared to sink with the pirates," said Peter Eldridge, the yacht's skipper, whose two crew are still missing.

Eldridge was speaking to the media for the first time since his rescue by EU naval forces, according to the Sapa news agency.

Eldridge said he and two South African crew members were sailing off the coast of Kenya when their yacht was hijacked on October 26 and the pirates set course for Somalia.

When the yacht ran aground, the pirates took the two crew members ashore in southern Somalia, but Eldridge said he refused to leave his boat.

"I refused to leave the yacht because I had made peace with myself. I refused because everything I had was in that yacht," he said.

Eldridge said the pirates, all men he estimated were between 15 and 50 years old, were armed with rockets and assault rifles.

South Africa's foreign ministry said Sunday that no ransom request has been received for the captured crew members.

Eldridge said all three were on their way from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to Richards Bay, on South Africa's northeast coast, when the hijacking occurred.

He said they had discussed the possibility of a pirate attack before the trip.

"The issue of the pirates was discussed before we began our journey but we believed that they would only rob us and leave us to continue if they caught us," Eldridge told journalists in Richards Bay.

He said the pirates had assaulted him and fired a gun when he refused to leave the boat, but he was not injured.

After the pirates abandoned the yacht, Eldridge was rescued by a boat from EU NAVFOR, the European Union's anti-piracy mission, on November 7.

Somali pirates on Saturday freed Paul and Rachel Chandler, a British couple held for more than a year in captivity.