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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.