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An explosion aboard the Trinity Spirit off the coast of Nigeria last year that killed five workers and left two others unaccounted for stands among the deadliest tragedies on an oil ship or platform in recent years OKITIPUPA, Nigeria -- It was the dead of night when the ship caught fire, Patrick Aganyebi remembers, but the flames made it seem as bright as day. The explosion that night woke him and knocked him to the floor. He tucked his phone and his ID card in his pockets, strapped on a life jacket and made his way to the upper deck. As the flames barreled toward him, he prepared to jump nearly 100 feet (30 meters) into the sea. Five workers were killed and two others presumed dead in the blast on the Trinity Spirit, a rusting converted oil tanker anchored 15 miles (24 km) off the coast of Nigeria that pulled crude oil from the ocean floor. It was by the grace of God, Aganyebi said, that he and two fellow crewmen escaped, rescued by a pair of fishermen as the burning vessel sank along...

German authorities have broken off their search for four crew members missing since their British-flagged cargo ship sank a day earlier following a collision with a larger vessel in the North Sea BERLIN -- German authorities on Wednesday broke off their search for four crew members missing since their British-flagged cargo ship sank a day earlier following a collision with a larger vessel in the North Sea. The Verity, which had seven people on board and was en route from Bremen, Germany, to the English port of Immingham, sank shortly after the collision a little before 5 a.m. Tuesday. Two sailors were rescued and the body of another was recovered. Rescue ships and aircraft participating in the search were unable to locate the four missing crew members on Tuesday, and divers sent down to the wreck of the Verity to check for any signs of life were unable to find anything. Officials said that the water temperature at the time of the collision was about 12 C (54 F), which experience s...

Taiwan's defense ministry said China’s military sent 71 planes and seven ships toward Taiwan in a 24-hour display of force directed at the island TAIPEI, Taiwan -- China’s military sent 71 planes and seven ships toward Taiwan in a 24-hour display of force directed at the island, Taiwan’s defense ministry said Monday, after China expressed anger at Taiwan-related provisions i n a U.S. annual defense spending bill passed on Saturday. China’s Military harassment of self-ruled Taiwan, which it claims is its own territory, has intensified in recent years, and the Communist Party’s People’s Liberation Army has sent planes or ships toward the island on a near-daily basis. Between 6 a.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday, 47 of the Chinese planes crossed the median of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary once tacitly accepted by both sides, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense. Among the planes China sent towards Taiwan were 18 J-16 fighter jets, 11 J-1 fighters, 6 S...