ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Traffic in Turkey's Bosphorus Strait, a key international shipping lane for oil and grain, was suspended on Wednesday (Aug 17) after a bulk carrier collided with a coast guard boat, shipping agent GAC said.

Six people were rescued and taken to hospital, a spokesman at the office of the Istanbul governor said.

The coast guard in Istanbul said it was unable to provide information on the accident.

The collision occurred at 8.40am at the southern end of the strait, forcing the capsize of the coast guard vessel, GAC said.

GAC identified the cargo ship as the M/V Tolunay, a Cook Island-flagged bulk carrier headed north to the Black Sea.

More than 3 per cent of the global crude supply - mainly from Russia and the Caspian Sea - pass through the 17-mile Bosphorus that connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.