The search for 17 people missing after a Korean fishing vessel sank in the Southern Ocean early today has been scaled down as it becomes increasingly unlikely further survivors will be found.

Five people are dead and 17 missing after a Korean fishing vessel sank in the freezing waters of the Southern Ocean, 2700km south east of Bluff, early this morning.

New Zealand is one of four nations calling for whaling protest ships in the Southern Ocean to safeguard life at sea.

NASA has just released this amazing image of phytoplankton bloom around the Chatham Islands.

An RNZAF Orion has been taken off the search for a New Zealander lost overboard in the Pacific Ocean as hopes of his survival fade.

London insurers have radical plans to reduce seaborne hijackings.

Reviewers are, I suppose, expected to be dispassionate but I admit to being an enthusiastic fan of Simon Winchester. I have never read a book of his that was not thoroughly rewarding and this latest, from a prolific production line, is one of the best.

The Atlantic ocean might not be the world's largest. But it is, writer Simon Winchester tells Stephen Jewell, the centre of the world and deserving of its own "biography".

A huge undersea volcano has dramatically reduced in size after partly collapsing more than 100 metres toward the ocean floor.