Daren Butler News

Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria signed an agreement on Thursday on a joint plan to clear mines floating in the Black Sea as a result of the war in Ukraine, following months of talks between the NATO allies.Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler, his Romanian counterpart Angel Tilvar and Bulgaria's Deputy Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov signed a memorandum of understanding in Istanbul to form a trilateral initiative to clear the explosives."With the start of the war, a threat of floating mines in the Black Sea has arisen. To combat it ...

A Turkish cargo ship with 12 crew members on board went missing off the country's Black Sea coast amid a storm on Sunday and authorities have been unable to make contact with them since, local authorities said.The captain of the Turkish flagged Kafkametler had reported during the morning that the ship was drifting towards a breakwater off Eregli, in northwest Turkey's Zonguldak province, the provincial governor's office said.The region was hit by powerful storms on Sunday and the statement said the adverse weather prevented air and sea vessels from carrying out searches.Search and rescue teams

The cargo ship "Resilient Africa" arrived off Turkey's Bosphorus Strait on Thursday, the first vessel loaded with grain from Ukraine to sail in and out of the Black Sea using a temporary corridor. The ship left the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk this week with 3,000 metric tons of grain, Kyiv had said.Ukraine last month announced a "humanitarian corridor" to release ships bound for African and Asian markets, and to circumvent a de facto blockade after Russia abandoned a deal this summer that had guaranteed its exports during the war. (Reuters - Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen;Writing by Daren Butler;Editing by Jonathan Spicer)First Big Grain Ship Leaves Ukraine's Black Sea Port

The cargo ship MKK 1, travelling from Ukraine to Turkey, was grounded in Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait on Monday and traffic in the strait was suspended for a few hours, shipping agents Tribeca said.Several tugs were among vessels sent to provide assistance to the ship, the coastguard authority said.

Turkey welcomed an agreement reached with its counterparts on Tuesday that allows the continuation of a new regulation requiring crude oil tankers to present an insurance confirmation letter before transiting Turkish straits.The Turkish measures, which came into effect on Dec. 1, require vessels to provide proof of insurance for the duration of transit through the Bosphorus or when calling at Turkish ports.The regulation has caused shipping delays, with up to 20 tankers waiting at the same time in the Black Sea last week, as they worked to present the necessary documents.

The number of tankers waiting to pass through Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait on the way to the Mediterranean fell to eight on Tuesday from 13 a day earlier, the Tribeca shipping agency said, in a further easing of the recent build-up in traffic.A Turkish measure in force since the start of the month has caused shipping delays. It requires vessels to provide proof of insurance for the duration of transit through the Bosphorus Strait or when calling at Turkish ports.Five tankers were set to go southbound through the Bosphorus on Tuesday, Tribeca said.

The number of tankers waiting to pass through Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait on the way to the Mediterranean fell to 13 on Monday from 17 a day earlier, the Tribeca shipping agency said, showing an easing of the recent build-up in traffic.A Turkish measure in force since the start of the month has caused shipping delays. It requires vessels to provide proof of insurance covering the duration of their transit through the Bosphorus Strait or when calling at Turkish ports. Five tankers were scheduled to go through the Bosphorus southbound on Monday, Tribeca said.

Turkey emerged as a critical stumbling block to a complex international plan to deprive Russia of wartime oil revenues as the number of tankers waiting to exit the Black Sea through Turkish straits continued to rise on Friday.Ankara has declined to scrap a new insurance inspection rule it implemented at the beginning of the month despite days of pressure from Western officials frustrated by the policy.A total of 28 oil tankers are in a queue seeking to leave the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, the Tribeca shipping agency said on Friday.G7 wealthy countries, the European Union and Australia agreed to bar providers of shipping services…

One more tanker took to 20 on Friday the number of vessels waiting in the Black Sea to pass through Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait on the way to the Mediterranean, the Tribeca shipping agency said, amid talks to disperse the build-up.On Thursday, dismissing pressure from abroad over the lengthening queue, Turkey's maritime authority said it would continue to keep out of its waters oil tankers that lacked the appropriate insurance letters, and it needed time for checks.Eight tankers were also waiting for passage through the Dardanelles strait into the Mediterranean…

Four ships carrying Ukrainian foodstuffs sailed from Ukrainian Black Sea ports on Sunday as part of a deal to unblock the country's sea exports, Ukrainian and Turkish officials said.The four bulk carriers were loaded with almost 170,000 tonnes of corn and other foodstuffs, Ukraine's sea ports authority said on Facebook.The resumption of grain exports is being overseen by a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul where Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and U.N. personnel are working.The United Nations and Turkey brokered the deal last month after U.N. warnings of possible outbreaks of famine in parts of the world due to a halt in grain shipments from Ukraine that had squeezed supplies and sent prices soaring.On Saturday…

Three ships loaded with grain under a recently concluded deal have left Ukrainian ports, the Turkish Defense Ministry and Reuters witnesses said on Friday.The Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, which groups Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and U.N. personnel, said two ships were setting off from Chornomorsk and one from Odesa.The three vessels carrying a total of about 58,000 tonnes of corn have been authorized to leave Ukrainian ports as part of a deal to unblock grain exports.The Turkish Defense Ministry said on Twitter the Panama-flagged Navistar…

The first grain ship to leave a Ukrainian port in wartime passed through the Bosphorus Strait on Wednesday en route to Lebanon for a delivery that foreign powers hope will be the first of many to help ease a global food crisis.The Razoni left Odesa on the Black Sea early on Monday carrying 26,527 tonnes of corn and anchored at the entrance of the Bosphorus Strait on Tuesday night.The shipment was made possible after Turkey and the United Nations brokered a grain and fertilizer…

Late last month, a Russian-flagged cargo ship carrying corn pulled into the Turkish port of Izmir on the Aegean Sea. The SV Nikolay had loaded the grain at Port Kavkaz, in Russia, six days earlier on June 18, according to documentation provided by an employee of the Russian company that owns the ship.A Reuters analysis of satellite imagery, ship-tracking data and open-source photos and videos yields a different port of origin for the SV Nikolay. On June 18, Reuters’ analysis of a satellite image indicates…

A military diving team deactivated a stray naval mine off Turkey's northwest coast on Monday, Turkey's defense ministry said, the second such device to be defused in the area in days amid the war in Ukraine.NATO member Turkey borders the Black Sea, as does Russia and Ukraine, which Moscow invaded on February 24.Russia's main intelligence agency last week accused Ukraine of laying mines to protect ports and said several hundred of the explosives had broken off from cables and drifted away.

A superyacht linked to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich docked in the Turkish tourist resort of Bodrum on Monday, after skirting the waters of European Union countries which have sanctioned the oligarch over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Abramovich was among several wealthy Russians added last week to an EU blacklist, and EU governments have acted in recent days to seize yachts and other luxury assets from them.World governments are seeking to isolate President Vladimir Putin and his allies over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin calls a "special military operation".Last week, Abramovich flew into Moscow after leaving Istanbul in his private jet.

Turkey is calling on all sides in the Ukraine crisis to respect an international pact on passage through the Turkish straits to the Black Sea, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was cited as saying on Tuesday after Ankara closed access.NATO ally Turkey borders Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea and has good ties with both. Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, Ankara has the right to limit transit through its Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits during wartime.This allows it to curb Russian warships going to the Black Sea.

Turkey is calling on all sides in the Ukraine crisis to respect an international pact on passage through the Turkish straits to the Black Sea, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar was cited as saying on Tuesday after Ankara closed access.NATO ally Turkey borders Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea and has good ties with both. Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, Ankara has the right to limit transit through its straits during wartime.This allows it to curb Russian warships going to the Black Sea.

Turkey sent a Greek Cypriot research vessel away from what it says is its continental shelf in the Mediterranean on Sunday after it entered the area without permission, Turkey's Defence Ministry said, in a sign of renewed tensions.For decades, Turkey has been at odds with Greece and Cyprus over competing territorial claims in the east Mediterranean, air space, energy, the status of some islands in the Aegean, and the breakaway Turkish state on the divided island of Cyprus.After months of tension last year that sparked fears of direct confrontation between NATO members Turkey and Greece, the two sides agreed in January to resume talks…

Thirty-seven people have been rescued from a migrant boat with 45 people on board that sank south of Turkey, and Turkish naval ships and an aircraft are continuing search and rescue operations, the defense ministry said on Friday.The ministry said in a statement that it had received information on Thursday evening that the boat was sinking, 161 miles (259 km) southwest of the Turkish resort town of Kas."Thirty-seven people were rescued from the migrant boat that sank. Search operations for eight people are continuing…

Turkey has approved development plans for a huge canal on the edge of Istanbul, Environment Minister Murat Kurum said on Saturday, advancing a project which has attracted criticism over its cost and environmental impact.The step came a year after Turkey held its first tender for the reconstruction of two historic bridges in its largest city where the 45km (28 miles) Kanal Istanbul, championed by President Tayyip Erdogan, is set to be dug.“We have approved the Kanal Istanbul Project development plans and put them out for public consultation.

Turkey and Egypt could negotiate and sign a maritime demarcation deal in the eastern Mediterranean if their ties, which have been strained, allow for such a move, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.Ties between them have been frosty since Egypt’s army ousted Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Mursi, an ally of President Tayyip Erdogan, in 2013. They have also been at odds over maritime jurisdiction and offshore resources, as well as differences in Libya…

Fifteen Turkish sailors kidnapped by pirates last month in the Gulf of Guinea arrived back in Turkey on Sunday and the ship’s captain described how they faced death threats and were held in a forest during their three-week ordeal.The sailors hugged relatives as they arrived before dawn at Istanbul Airport, where they were greeted by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and other officials, two days after news of their release in Nigeria emerged.“We were in a forest. There were tough conditions. There were constantly armed men at our side,” Mustafa Kaya, captain of the ship Mozart from which the crew were abducted, was cited as saying by the Demiroren news agency.The Liberian-flagged containership was headed to Cape Town from Lagos when it was attacked on January 23…

Pirates who kidnapped 15 sailors from a Turkish-crewed container ship in the Gulf of Guinea on Saturday have made their first contact with the shipping company to discuss a ransom, Turkish state media reported on Thursday.“Communication has been established with crew members of the Mozart container ship,” Istanbul-based Boden Shipping, which provides technical management services for the vessel, was quoted as saying by state-owned Anadolu news agency.“Information has been obtained that all 15 crew members are in good health, not wounded and together,” it said.One sailor, an Azerbaijani citizen, was killed in the raid while those kidnapped are from Turkey, according to the respective governments and a crew list seen by Reuters.Accounts from crew, family members and security sources describe