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Japan Oil Ports Still Open to WorldsFive Largest Tanker LinesMarch 30 (Bloomberg) -- The worlds five biggest oil -tanker companies will still travel to
the ports of Tokyo Bay, joining other shipping lines in judging them safe for crew and
vessels. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., Frontline Ltd., Teekay Corp., Nippon Yusen Kaisha
and NITC Co., whose ships can hold enough oil to supply Japan for 100 days, all said
there is no disruption to their services. All vessels are avoiding a 30-mile exclusion
zone around the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, about 220 miles to the
north of Tokyo. Record-high readings of contaminated sea water were found yesterday
near the plant, which was damaged by a magnitude-9 earthquake and 23-foot tsunami
on March 11, Jap ans Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said today. The
International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, said on March 21 there
was no medical basis for restricting shipping and the U.S. Navy said March 28 any
radiation on vessels can be scr ubbed off with soap and water and isnt harmful to
peoples health.
The isotopes in question have a very short lifespan, so owners are probably not yet
concerned about the effects of going into Tokyo Bay, said Petter Narvestad, a
shipping analyst at Fond sfinans AS in Oslo. Should the radiation spread, that may
change the picture. The Baltic and International Maritime Council, representing two-
thirds of the worlds merchant fleet, said March 28 it had not been informed that any
shipping line was avoiding Japan because of the threat of radiation. Japan has more
than 200 commercial ports.
Liberian Registry
The Liberian Registry, which represents about 11 percent of the worlds merchant fleet,
lifted its recommendation that ships stay 100 nautical miles away from a section of
Japans east coast. Captains should now follow the guidance of the Japanesegovernment, which is to stay 30 kilometers (19 miles) away from the Fukushima plant,
the registry said in a March 25 notice. The U.S. Coast Guard advised all ships to stay
50 miles away from the Fukushima plant, the U.S. Department of Transportation said in
a notice March 18. Any U.S.-bound ship passing through this limit should submit the
information to the U.S. Coast Guard, according to the notice.
Shipping lines sailing into nuclear zones are not insured if their crew or vessels are
affected by radiation, according to information on the website of the U.K. P&I Club,
which insures a fleet drawn from more than 50 nations.
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Government Agencies
While Teekay ships are calling at Tokyo Bay, the company is taking the advice of
government agencies and taking vessels outside the exclusion zone to the north,
Graham Westgarth, president of Teekay Marine Services, said by e-mail yesterday.The Hamilton, Bermuda-based company is the third-largest tanker operator, according
to Clarkson Research Services Ltd., a unit of the worlds biggest shipbroker. Irans
NITC Co. will accept bookings to Tokyo, Chartering Manager Nasrollah Sardashti said
by e-mail from Tehran yesterday. NITC is the fifth-largest owner, according to data
from Clarkson Research Services. Mitsui O.S.K., Frontline, Teekay, NYK and NITC
have a combined carrying capacity of about 65 million deadweight tons, according to
Clarkson. Thats equal to about 477 million barrels. Japans oil consumption averaged
4.4 million barrels a day in 2009, according to data from BP Plc. There were 66 oilports and terminals operating normally in Japan as of March 29, with five closed and
three partially open, according to Inchcape Shipping Services, which handles as many
as 4,000 port calls in Japan every year.
Management Unit
Frontline, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, and the biggest supertanker operator, is only
avoiding the exclusion zone around Fukushima, Jens Martin Jensen, Singapore-based
chief executive officer of the companys management unit, said in an e -mail yesterday.NYK, Japans largest shipping line by sales, maintained normal shipping services for
liquefied-natural gas, oil or dry bulk commodities, Jun Katayama, a spokesman, said by
phone yesterday. Mitsui O.S.K., operator of the worlds largest merchant fleet, has also
made no changes to its services in LNG, oil and bulk shipping, according to Eiko
Mizuno, a spokeswoman. Tokyo Bay ports are safe and dont pose a safety threat ,
Andrew Linington, a spokesman for Nautilus, Europes largest union for shipping
officers, said March 23. The union took advice from the U.K.s Maritime and
Coastguard Agency. The situation in tankers is similar to that in container shipping,
where five of the six largest owners are maintaining services to Tokyo Bay. The fourth
biggest, Hapag-Lloyd AG, is diverting vessels to docks in the south of the country.
Mediterranean Shipping
A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM SA, the three
biggest container shipping lines, said they are maintaining routes to Tokyo and
Yokohama, Japans two busiest container ports. Evergreen Marine Corp., the fifth -
largest container line, is serving Tokyo and Yokohama as usual, and Neptune Orient
Lines Ltd.s APL unit, the sixth -biggest, is doing so for Yokohama.