A capesize bulk carrier controlled by Japan's Doun Kisen has been badly damaged in a collision at the northern entrance to the Cannakale Strait near Gallipoli Turkey.

The 206,000-dwt Panama-flag Benitamou (built 2006) was hit in the midships by the 31,800-dwt general cargo ship Vanessa (built 2010) in thick fog, according to Turkey's Directorate General of Coastal Safety.

The Barbados-registered Vanessa is controlled by Greece's F.G.M