A new privately-funded search for the missing yacht Nina is taking off this morning - more than five months since the historic yacht left Opua in the Bay of Islands.

A witness in the Costa Concordia shipwreck trial has described how the captain jumped aboard a lifeboat, testifying how the commander wasn't the last to abandon the rapidly capsizing luxury cruise ship.

A family ripped apart by tragedy will regather today for a wedding - just five days after two of the wedding party were swept out to sea and drowned.

Police still hope to find a New Zealand man alive after he jumped into rough seas to save a friend off a beach near Melbourne on Wednesday.

KiwiRail has has stopped taking bookings for all its Interislander ferries after the trouble-plagued Aratere lost a propeller during a Cook Strait crossing.

A search has resumed for a New Zealand man who is feared drowned after he jumped into rough seas to save a friend off a beach near Melbourne.

An investigation has been launched into how the interisland ferry Aratere managed to lose a propeller during a Cook Strait crossing last night.

An overcrowded tourist ferry capsized and sank near a popular Thai seaside town, killing six tourists and leaving 200 needing rescue.

A man who spent 119 days lost at sea is urging NZ authorities to continue the hunt for the Nina, saying he's living proof people can survive against the odds.

A man who died at a popular diving spot off the Coromandel Peninsula yesterday was diving with family members at the time.

A teenager who was rescued by two police officers from rough surf at a Hawkes Bay beach has paid tribute to his heroes.

Two police officers who dived into rough surf and formed a human chain to save a 12-year-old boy from drowning are set to receive the force's highest bravery award today.

A meteorologist says it is possible new satellite images showing what looks like a boat in the Tasman Sea could be the missing ship Nina.

Italian divers have described the horror of seeing dozens of dead refugees trapped inside the hull of a fishing boat that sank off the coast of the island of Lampedusa.

Editorial: Just as it is foolish to take the weather for granted, so it is unwise to consider the small number of restrictions to be set in stone.

A proposed change to lifejacket laws to make wearing them mandatory in boats smaller than 6m has already proved controversial and split opinion.

The extraordinary sight of the Costa Concordia hoisted from its watery grave helped erase the shame many Italians felt over the captain crashing it and doing a runner.

An ice-cold wall of water rose so quickly that expat Suzanne Morris had seconds to escape her Colorado apartment in the middle of the night.

The anxiously awaited attempt to pull the crippled Costa Concordia upright from its side off Italy's Tuscan coast is under way.

A jacket belonging to a holidaymaker who fell from a boat in Marlborough Sounds early yesterday has been found by searchers.

Hopes are fading for a holidaymaker who fell from a boat in Marlborough Sounds early yesterday.

Shorelines searches are being carried out for a holidaymaker who fell from a boat into the freezing waters of the Marlborough Sounds in the early hours of today.

One person died today when a boat sank on North Lake Mavora near Queenstown. There were three young men on board.

Family of seven missing crew members on board the Nina are convinced they're alive and want the search to begin again, despite no sign of them since June 4.

Searchers are unsure of the source of two plastic containers, found today in the hunt for the missing yacht Nina.