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CONTAINER shipping to and from Japan after the devastating tsunami will be affected for some time by lack of exports coming from Japanese factories, prompting shipping lines to skip Japanese ports, according to an early assessment from the Copenhagen-based Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO).
In the short-term, said BIMCO, shipping demand will only slowly recover. Medium to long-term, demand may be higher because of the natural disaster itself would provide demand for new materials and replace those which had been destroyed.
Confidence was expressed in Japanese resilience, however. An Arabian shipping executive told the Gulf Times: "My inquiries yesterday found that the Japanese government is carrying out relief operations at an amazing pace."
For the next few weeks though, exports are expected to be very slow, according to a manager on the ground. Similarly, onward traffic to Japan will be slow too.
More than 40 ships were scheduled to be in Yokohama, the 39th biggest container port in the world, the day the earthquake and tsunami struck on Friday, reported Newark's Journal of Commerce. Dry bulk shipping will be impacted too as Japan is a major importer of thermal coal for power generation, iron ore and coking coal for steel production and grain for food and feedstock.
With several nuclear power plants knocked out by the tsunami, and coal-fired power plants output is expected to be in greater demand and in need of fresh stocks especially after much of it was washed away in the flooding.
Eighteen per cent of Japan's oil refining capacity has been deactivated by the natural disaster, thus tanker shipping stands to be impacted because refineries are on fire, reducing product tanker demand.
Taipei-based Wan Hai Lines with many routes to Japan is offering container transport, and is also appealing the others to respond to calls for relief plan for Japan. From Taipei, Wan Hai calls at Tokyo, Chiba, Hakata, Kawasaki, Kobe, Mizushima, Moji, Nagoya, Osaka, Shimizu, Tokuyama, Yokkachi and Yokohama.
Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has set up a task force and support headquarters headed by company president Koichi Muto to help victims of the Tohoku district.
MOL has decided to donate JPY50 million (US$608,394) to support rescue efforts. Company employees have organised a charity donation programme within MOL, the proceeds of which will be donated to organisations that are working to support victims and rebuild their cities.
At the request of the government, MOL Ferry Co Ltd will transport Japanese military personnel to rescue operations. Four ferries have started moving vehicles and soldiers from Tomakomai in Hokkaido to Aomori.
"We express our heartfelt sympathies to the families and friends of those who lost loved ones in the earthquake. At the same time, we wish for the best for the victims of the earthquake," the MOL statement said.
Despite the devastation, shipping executives in the Arabian Gulf are banking on Japanese resilience in overcoming the disaster that befell them. Their hopes are based on the excellent track record of the Japanese in facing and overcoming natural disasters and other calamities that have hit parts of that country at intervals in previous years, said the Gulf Times.
"Having seen the remarkable enterprise and managerial abilities of the Japanese on different occasions, I'm sure the country would overcome the tough challenges that it is facing in the wake of the cruellest disaster in recent times," said a senior manager at one of the top-notch shipping firms, which deals with companies in Japan and who also makes regular visits to the country as part of his company's business operations.
A 15-man Chinese earthquake rescue team arrived in Tokyo on Sunday as Beijing put aside animosity towards its neighbour, reported London's Financial Times. The team, the first such mission accepted by Japan from China, will join similar groups from dozens of countries in a search for survivors in the worst affected areas.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)
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