David Dolan News

Japanese coast guard ships and aircraft were searching on Friday for three missing crew of a cargo ship that capsized and sank after a collision with a Marshall Islands-registered tanker in the Seto Inland Sea, authorities said.The Byakko sank at about 2:40 a.m.

A third crewman from a cargo ship that capsized this week off the coast of Japan with more than 40 crew and some 6,000 cattle on board was found alive on Friday after he was spotted by a search plane, Japan's coastguard said.The man, 30-year-old Filipino Jay-nel Rosals, was found on a liferaft waving for help 2 km (1.2 miles) off Kodakarajima, a small island in Japan's southern Kagoshima prefecture, the coastguard said.He was conscious and was able to walk when the coast guard rescued him. Rescuers also found an overturned orange lifeboat floating at sea some 4 km off Kodakarajima, but no one was found on that boat.Rosals was only the third crew member to be found so far from the Gulf Livestock 1, which capsized in the East China Sea on Wednesday and is believed to have sunk.

The Japanese-owned bulk carrier that ran aground off Mauritius and spilled oil over pristine waters and fragile coral reefs diverted more than 100 kilometers from a regular shipping lane, data from a maritime analysis firm showed.The MV Wakashio, owned by Nagashiki Shipping and chartered by Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, struck a coral reef on Mauritius's southeast coast on July 25 and later began leaking oil. Two of the ship's officers have since been arrested on charges of endangering…

A man who had been aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship and was infected with coronavirus has died, bringing the death toll from the ship to seven, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said on Saturday.The man was not Japanese, NHK said, without giving details of his nationality or age.

A Japanese infectious disease specialist has castigated his government's handling of quarantine on a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship, saying it was run by "bureaucrats" who stoked the crisis by failing to follow basic protocols.Kentaro Iwata of Kobe University Hospital took his criticism to YouTube after he spent a day as a volunteer doctor on the Diamond Princess. The luxury liner has become an incubator for the novel coronavirus, with more than 600 people now infected.The ship docked in Yokohama on Feb. 3. Japan has been criticized for its handling of the quarantine, including by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).But Iwata's criticism is some of the most scathing yet."The cruise ship was completely inadequate in terms of the infection control…

Dozens more people onboard a cruise ship quarantined in the port of Yokohama, Japan, tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday and thousands of passengers remained confined to their cabins, only allowed on deck briefly for fresh air.The Diamond Princess, owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp, was placed on a two-week quarantine on arriving at Yokohama on Monday after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong was diagnosed with the virus.Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told a news conference that 41 people on the liner had tested positive for coronavirus on Friday…

Two people died and another four were missing on Monday after a ship carrying coal sent a distress signal off the northern coast of Turkey, the coast guard and the local governor's office said.The Panama-flagged vessel, which departed from Russia's Azov port, sent out a distress signal around 148 kilometers (92 miles) off the northeastern Black Sea province of Samsun, the coast guard said.Thirteen crew members were on the bulk carrier including nine Ukraine nationals, two Azerbaijan nationals and two Russians, the Samsun governor's office said.The coast guard said the distress signal was received regarding a "possible sinking" of the ship.Seven members of the crew had been rescued so far while a search and rescue operation continued for the other four, the coast guard said.

Turkey has completed the purchase of its second drilling ship, which will operate in the Black Sea at the north of the country, Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Friday.Turkey is almost completely reliant on imports to meet its energy needs.

A Turkish energy exploration ship will continue to operate in the Mediterranean Sea, the energy minister said on Friday, after Ankara said the navy stopped a Greek frigate from harassing the ship due to territorial disputes.Turkey, Greece and Cyprus's internationally recognized Greek Cypriot government have long disputed their overlapping claims of jurisdiction for offshore oil and gas research in the Mediterranean."Turkish Petroleum's exploration ship will continue its activities in line with Turkey's rights," Energy Minister Fatih Donmez told reporters in the western coastal province of Izmir, referring to the state-owned oil company.Turkey's foreign ministry said on Thursday that the navy had stopped a Greek frigate from harassing the Turkish Petroleum ship in the Mediterranean Sea, cal

Traffic on Turkey's Bosphorus Strait, an important international shipping lane for oil and grain, was suspended on Wednesday due to poor visibility from dense fog, shipping agent GAC said. Vessel traffic was suspended at 3:52 p.m. (1252 GMT). The Bosphorus is one of world's most important choke points for the maritime transit of oil, with more than 3 percent of global supply - mainly from Russia and the Caspian Sea - passing through the 17-mile waterway connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. It is also used by vessels carrying grain from Russia and Kazakhstan to world markets.

Turkey has sent two ships and a submarine to monitor a drilling vessel in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the military said on Thursday, in a move likely to increase tension with Cyprus after reunification talks failed last week. The drilling work, a contractual obligation between Cyprus and France's Total, comes a week after the collapse of talks to reunify the divided island nation, split between ethnic Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Ankara has said it will take measures against Cyprus for engaging in gas and oil exploration around the island. It says that hydrocarbon resources in the waters around the divided island should belong to both sides. The military said it had deployed the frigates and a submarine to the eastern Mediterranean to "guarantee the security of oil transportation".

The captain of a Turkish freighter said on Monday that the Greek coast guard had fired on his vessel after he refused an order to dock at a port on the Greek island of Rhodes. Turkey said the action was "disproportionate" and showed no regard for human life. "There is no justification ... for firing on an unarmed commercial ship carrying freight between two Turkish ports," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Sami Kalkavan, captain of the M/V ACT, told the broadcaster CNN Turk that the Greek coast guard had ordered him to dock in Rhodes, which is some 15 miles (24 km) from the Turkish coast, for inspection. He said that when he had failed to comply, the coast guard had opened fire, putting 16 bullet holes in his ship.

A Russian naval intelligence ship sank off Turkey's Black Sea coast on Thursday after colliding with a vessel carrying livestock and all 78 personnel on board the navy ship were evacuated, Turkish officials said. The rescued crew members of the Russian ship Liman were in good health after the collision with the Togo-flagged Youzarsif H, Turkey's Transport Minister Ahmed Arslan said. The incident took place in fog and low visibility 18 miles (29 km) from Kilyos village on the Black Sea coast just north of Istanbul. Turkish authorities dispatched a tugboat and three fast rescue vessels, the coastal safety authority said. Advisers to Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim conveyed his sadness over the incident to Russian counterparts, according to sources in his office.

Bad weather forced a Russian ship to run aground in Istanbul on Friday and the crew was awaiting rescue, Turkey's Dogan news agency reported. The ship ran aground near Istanbul's Kartal district, on the Asian side of the city and on the coast of the Sea of Marmara, Dogan reported. Istanbul's European and Asian sides are separated by the Bosphorus Strait, an important international shipping lane for oil and grain.   (Reporting by Yesim Dikmen; Writing by David Dolan)

Six Turkish members of a cargo ship's crew who were kidnapped by pirates off the coast of Nigeria two weeks ago have been released and are safely back in Istanbul, a lawyer for the shipping company said on Tuesday. "The six of them have been released and are back in Istanbul. All are in good health," said Fehmi Ulgener, a lawyer for the shipping firm Kaptanoglu Denizcilik. He declined to say whether or not a ransom had been paid. The Turks, who included the M/T Puli's captain, chief officer and chief engineer, were abducted some 90 miles off Nigeria on April 11. Other members of the crew were left onboard, unharmed. The tanker was carrying liquid chemical fuels and was travelling to Cameroon, the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported.

It is nighttime on a beach near the resort town of Bodrum and a group of migrants look out nervously at two ships on the horizon, wondering if they can slip past the Turkish coastguard and cross the Aegean Sea into a new life in Europe. But their dinghies are poorly made and slow, and the coastguard has stepped up patrols in the area, where the body of toddler Aylan Kurdi washed up, sparking international outrage. While Europe has only woken up to the size of the refugee crisis this summer, Turkey has been the front lines for more than four years. It shares a 900-km (550 mile) border with Syria and has welcomed those fleeing the civil war, now in its fifth year.

With the towering bridges that span the Bosphorus choked by traffic, a new boat service from Uber aims to capitalise on Istanbul's infamous road congestion. In partnership with local sea transport company Navette the Uber Boat venture is unlikely to net a significant chunk of the company's Turkey revenue, but it is further evidence of the strategy underpinning its offerings - making it easier to transport anything, in any way, by first booking a pickup through a mobile app. "If we can get you a car in five minutes…

Nigeria is losing an estimated $35 million a day from oil theft and needs to put a "full, final stop" to the growing black market for crude exports, according to a national conference report seen by Reuters on Tuesday. Africa's largest economy and top oil producer has been struggling with oil theft for years, with much of the stolen crude leaving the country in tankers. The energy committee of Nigeria's national conference said in a report submitted this week the losses were "equivalent to $35 million each day," or roughly a quarter of Nigeria's annual revenue. It called on Abuja to "bring this racket to a full, final stop". "The potential gains should clearly outweigh the cost of any intense security operation to stamp out this economic sabotage…

Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday it had declared force majeure at its EA field in Nigeria to repair equipment damaged by bad weather offshore, putting on hold production of about 40,000 barrels of oil a day. Repairs were needed to the soft yoke mooring platform, it said in a statement. The EA field is located south west of Warri in water depths of around 25 metres. (By Andrew Heavens; editing by David Dolan, Reuters)