AFP - Moscow's ambassador to Cape Verde said Friday he had not been "officially" informed by the military here that a Russian-crewed cargo ship that vanished two weeks ago had been spotted off the islands.

A Cape Verdean coastguard source told AFP earlier that the Arctic Sea had been spotted some 400 nautical miles (740 kilometres) off one of the islands.

The spotting of the ship "has not been officially communicated to the embassy" by the military, said Alexander Karpushin, Russia's ambassador to Cape Verde.

"I have contacted the armed forces chief of staff and he has not confirmed that information to me."

He also said searches for the ship were continuing with Russian ships, submarines and satellites. Karpushin declined to provide details on where the searches were taking place.

Cape Verde's director general of defence, Pedro Reis, had also told Portuguese news agency LUSA that the boat was spotted off the islands, which lie some 450 kilometres off the coast of Senegal.

Russian warships have been scouring the Atlantic Ocean and intense speculation has mounted over the fate of the ship, with the vessel having dropped off the radar after passing through the English Channel last month.

It had been due to arrive in Algeria on August 4 with a cargo of sawn timber worth more than a million euros (1.42 million dollars).