Japan will conduct radiation checks on ships and containers leaving three main international ports in and near Tokyo beginning April 28, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced Friday, JOC reports. The inspections at the ports of Tokyo, Yokohama and Kawasaki, which account for about 40 percent of foreign trade containers, will measure radiation levels in accordance with ministry guidelines, and the ministry will issue certificates of safety. Read more www.joc.com/japan...

The massive amount of debris caused by the March 11 quake and the tsunami in Japan is forcing ships to change their routes, an industry association official said Wednesday. Eighty percent of Japanese ships for domestic transport need to travel via the Sea of Japan instead of the Pacific Ocean due to the amount of floating debris that be dangerous to small ships of less than 499 gross tons, capable of carrying 1,700-1,800 mt of freight, an official at Japan Federation of Coastal Shipping Associations said. Read more at www.hellenicshipp...

Japan's transport ministry will start measuring the radiation levels of ships and containers leaving the Tokyo Bay area for foreign ports this week, it said to Reuuters news agency on Friday, in a bid to alleviate concerns about contamination from a nuclear plant crippled by an earthquake. The ministry aims to implement the measure soon, with certificates recording radiation levels issued to ship owners. A ministry official said ships and containers with radiation readings exceeding a standard level will not be permitted to leave the ports of Tokyo, Kawasaki or Yokohama -- located 240 km (150 miles) south of Tokyo Electric Power Co's devastated Fukushima Daiici nuclear plant.

The world's biggest shipping companies continue to call at Japanese ports having decided that there is no real threat of radiation coming from the wrecked nuclear power plant, reports Bloomberg. Having initially pulled out, Hapag-Lloyd, the world's fourth biggest container shipping line, has resumed calls at Tokyo and Yokohama, meaning that none of the world's 16 biggest container carriers are avoiding the area as some did at first. Ships still shun a 20-mile exclusion zone around the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, but that is some 200 miles from Tokyo. Despite record readings of contaminated water, the UN's International Maritime Organisation IMO said there was no medical basis for restricting shipping and the US Navy said any radiation on ships could be cleaned with soap and water and it isn't harmful to health.