The men were snatched from the 6,300-dwt Althea (built 2009) 35 nauticalmiles south of Guinea, newswire reports say.

Officialsat the Greek Shipping Ministry tell TradeWinds the 65-year-old Greek engineerwas taken along with the Ukrainian master. The remaining 16 crew on boardare described as safe.

Personal items were stolen from the crew but the ship’s cargo remains inplace, a spokesperson for Piraeus-based Medtankers Management, which manages theship, told Reuters.

“We aredoing everything we can for their release,” an official at the firm told thenews wire.

So far, no ransom demand has been received.