An assessment of the Japan crisis

The current assessment of the situation in Japan has been sketchy and often conflicting, with news agencies mostly over-stating the impact on the shipping sector. Of the ports that suffered serious damage as a result of the earthquake and tsunami, only seven handle container cargo – Sendai, Hachinohe, Hitachinaka, Onahama, Kashima, Ofunato and Ishinomaki. These ports only handled 1.3% of the total Japanese container throughput in 2010. The largest amongst them -.the port of Sendai – handled only 155,611 teu last year.

However, if the risk of nuclear radiation from Fukushima escalates and causes the closure of the ports in Tokyo Bay, Alphaliner points out that this would have a significant impact on container cargo movements. The two Kanto ports of Tokyo and Yokohama handled 7.5m teu in 2010, or 38% of the total Japanese throughput.

The government has already defined an exclusion zone for vessels close to the Fukushima nuclear plant of a minimum 30 km radius which could be extended as the risk of contamination worsens. Owners maintain vigilance as some vessel registries warn that ships should remain at least 300 miles away from the affected area. Hapag-Lloyd was the first of the major carriers to announce on March 17 that it will take the precautionary measure to omit calls at the port of Tokyo and Yokohama until further notice. Most other carriers continue to call at Tokyo and Yokohama but do watch the situation closely.