Ships avoiding Tokyo port on radiation fears

[jpak]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/24/us-japan-quake-ports-idUSTRE72N40420110324

(Reuters) - German shipping companies are avoiding Tokyo port due to radiation fears and Japan potentially faces severe supply chain bottlenecks as vessels get diverted, ship industry officials said on Thursday.

Any logistical setbacks could mean major delays and seaborne congestion at Japan's terminals including Tokyo, hindering recovery efforts in the wake of the March 11 earthquake.

Among those that have stopped going to Tokyo for the time being are Hapag-Lloyd -- the world's fifth-biggest container shipper -- and Claus-Peter Offen, Germany's shipping association said on Thursday. The companies have also stopped calling at the eastern port of Yokohama, close to Tokyo, it said.

"The last thing Japan needs right now is for people to abandon them," said Tim Wickmann, chief executive of MCC Transport a unit of Danish oil and shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk.

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[PoliticAverse]

1. Maybe they don't want to go through this after every visit:

http://www.wvec.com/news/military/Carrier-Ronald-Reagan-gets-decontamination--118567514.html