Tag: Japan

NYK has provided free ocean transport for a monument recognizing the Japanese who lost their lives in the devastating earthquake that struck Christchurch, New Zealand, on February 22, 2011. Ocean transport was provided by NYK Line, and overland services in New Zealand and Japan were handled by NYK Group company Yusen Logistics.Of the two monuments that were produced, one was installed at a church in Christchurch, and the other was shipped by NYK at the request of the New Zealand Embassy to Toyama College of Foreign Languages, which lost 12 students in the disaster. The monument, funded by donations collected in Japan and New Zealand, stands on a wooden base made from one of New Zealand's kahikatea trees, which are characterized by their complicated structure of multiple tree roots and branches tangled on a single trunk, symbolizing the importance of human bonds and mutual support to overcome the sadness of this tragedy.The monument given to Toyama College of Foreign LanguagesThe monument arrived at the port of Toyama on June 8, and a dedication ceremony was held at the college on June 25. New Zealand foreign minister Murray McCully, New Zealand ambassador Ian Kennedy, and NYK corporate officer Yoko Wasaki joined ...

$124 million test-drilling project Japan plans to test-drill in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) next year where a potentially "large-scale" oilfield has been found, a news report said Monday.The Energy Agency has collected data proving that an area with possible oil and natural gas reserves lies some 30 kilometers southwest of Sadogashima island, the Yomiuri Shimbun said.The possible oilfield, some 2.7 kilometers below the sea floor, covers 135 square kilometers, the evening edition of the mass-circulation daily reported."In terms of area, it can match a large-scale oilfield overseas," an agency official was quoted by the newspaper as saying.The government-backed Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation will carry out the 9.8 billion yen ($124 million) test-drilling, the Yomiuri said.The three-year project is expected to begin as early as April next year after obtaining agreement from local Japanese fishermen, it said, adding that the government hopes to commercialize it in 2017 if results are favorable.Resource-poor and energy-hungry Japan heavily relies on oil imports from the Middle East, a situation that has been exacerbated by the shuttering of all of its nuclear reactors following the disaster at Fukushima last year.Source: Japan Today

$7.6 billion should there be an accident on an Iranian oil tanker coming to Japan Last week, the Japanese government's cabinet ministers both approved and submitted a bill to the Diet that allows insurance coverage to be made on oil imports from Iran. This is in direct opposition to the ban on Iranian oil insurance from the European Union that will take effect on July 1st. If passed by parliament, the bill would permit the government to make payments as high as $7.6 billion should there be an accident on an Iranian oil tanker coming to Japan.While the European Union is showing no signs of leniency, Japan has requested to be exempted from the ban on insurance of Iranian oil exports. The Japanese government has also made it clear that it has no intentions to stop importing oil from the Middle Eastern nation. The European Union's ban is just one of many attempts by Western nations to put sanctions on Iran with the hopes of convincing Tehran to abandon its nuclear development program via depleting its revenue sources. While not stopping altogether, Japan has reduced the amount of its oil imports from Iran, despite the sharply increasing demand after halting ...

Almost 70 % of the debris swept to sea by last year's tsunami has sunk Bottles, plastic foam and floating buoys are just a few of the scattershot items washing ashore in Alaska, part of a wave of debris surging toward U.S. shores from the March 2011 earthquake in Japan, CNN reports."In the past we would find a few dozen large black buoys, used in Japanese aquaculture, on an outside beach cleanup," Patrick Chandler of the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies told Agence France Presse. "Now we see hundreds."Officials estimate almost 70 percent of the debris swept to sea by last year's tsunami has sunk, but that remaining 30 percent has begun showing up on Canadian and American shores in the last few months. In April 2012, a Japanese child's soccer ball turned up in Alaska, a ghost ship had to be sunk, and a lost Harley Davidson washed ashore on Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia.According to CBS News, one-and-a-half million tons of an estimated five million tons of debris remain afloat. And more than radioactivity, toxicity poses the greatest concern when it comes to wreckage."Think about everything in your garage and imagine that dumping in the ...

China-Japan maritime talks Papers including Beijing News suggest that the agenda of talks taking place in the southeastern city of Hangzhou will include the dispute over the East China Sea Senkaku islands, also known as the Diaoyu islands in China. Both Japan and China claim the islands.China Daily's editorial says the Hangzhou talks are "a positive attempt to deal with their dispute over the Diaoyu Islands"."For a political solution to be found there has to be a positive atmosphere and a consensus that a constructive relationship is an absolute necessity and in the national interests of both countries," said the editorial.But other reports and commentaries suggest there may not be such a "positive atmosphere".Hong Kong's Sing Tao Daily says Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi refused to receive a visiting Japanese economic delegation on Tuesday, a day after bilateral talks between President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.A bilingual editorial in the Global Times further says: "Japan's toughness against China actually reflects its weakness.""The hardline approach is not driven by real national interests, nor is it supported by international acknowledgement," said the editorial. "The posture cannot even match its national power."People's Daily also runs a commentary which further criticises ...

To allow them to continue importing Iranian crude oil after EU sanctions come into effect in July Japan is considering a new law to provide sovereign guarantees for its ships to allow them to continue importing Iranian crude oil after EU sanctions come into effect in July, the Nikkei business daily said.The European Union has already prohibited European insurance coverage on hull and machinery for Iranian crude shipments, which has significantly limited Japan's lifting of Iranian crude from April.The European Union in March, however, extended European insurance for oil spills on Iranian oil shipments until July 1, responding to calls for exemptions by Japan and South Korea.Industry sources have said it would be virtually impossible to keep importing Iranian crude without European insurance coverage for oil spills.The Japan P&I club, the country's main ship insurer against pollution and personal injury claims, would been forced to slash its cover on oil spills for a tanker carrying Iranian oil to $8 million from July 1 versus $1 billion now due to the EU sanctions.Around 90 percent of the world's tanker insurance is based in the West, so the measures threaten shipments to Iran's top Asian buyers China, India, Japan and South Korea.The ...

Dispute over the East Sea name continues The Japanese call it the Sea of Japan. To Koreans, it is known as Dong-hae, or the East Sea.To the Japanese government, the Sea of Japan should be known as such internationally, a position the government of South Korea calls "colonialist."Seoul wants the Sea of Japan to be mentioned concurrently with the East Sea on international charts.The dispute over the name, simmering between the two neighbors for more than a decade, has once again gone to the International Hydrographic Organization, the global body based in Monaco set up to "support safety of navigation and the protection of the marine environment."The name issue was taken up at the 18th International Hydrographic Conference held in Monte Carlo last month, and the outcome has led to divergent interpretations in Japan and South Korea.Japanese government officials said the IHO decided April 26 to continue using the term Sea of Japan in reference to the body of water between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.That position was also reflected in South Korean media.Quoting officials, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said April 26 in a combined dispatch from Monte Carlo and Seoul that the IHO decided "not to revise a ...

March increase is first year-over-year gain in four months Orders at Japanese shipyards rose for the first time in four months in March on a year-on-year basis, increasing 8.6 percent to 1.1 million gross tons, according to the Japan Ship Exporters' Association.The March growth followed year-over-year drops of 2.8 percent in December, 56.7 percent in January and 23.1 percent in February.Japanese shipbuilders received orders for 21 export ships - 16 bulk carriers, four tankers and one general cargo vessel - in March. The 21 ships total about 454,000 compensated gross tons.For all of fiscal 2011, which ended on March 31, Japanese export ship orders tumbled 34.9 percent from the previous fiscal year to about 8.1 million gross tons. Japanese shipbuilders received orders for 198 export ships, totaling about 3.9 million compensated gross tons, for the year.Japan is one of the world's top shipbuilding nations along with South Korea and China. But Japanese shipbuilders are struggling as demand for new vessels among ship owners is flagging amid a slowdown in the global economy due largely to the deep European debt crisis.Japanese shipbuilders also face increasingly tough competition with their South Korean and Chinese rivals amid the strong value of the yen, ...

Registry grew by 20% in 2011 The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Registry experienced another year of strong growth in 2011. In terms of gross tons (GT), the Registry grew by 20% (+13 million GT), reaching 78 million GT by the end of 2011. Japanese shipowners represent the Registry's fifth largest shipowning group. Similar to the overall growth of the Registry, the Japanese-owned fleet registered in the RMI in 2011 also increased by 20% (+1.3 million GT). In total, Asian offices registered 6.4 million GT in the RMI Registry in 2011."The Registry has continued to grow at a rapid pace despite another difficult year for the shipping industry. Recognizing the support the Registry is receiving from Japanese owners and the need for a strong local presence, we opened an office in Imabari in May 2011 and to date, 15 ships have registered through that office since its opening," said Bill Gallagher, President of International Registries, Inc."Japanese owners are one of the fastest shipowning groups of the Registry. Well-resourced local offices, backed by a robust global network, are critical components to maintaining a strong and growing partnership with our Japanese-based customers," said Annie Ng, Managing Director of International Registries (Far ...

Ship owners must alert insurer of Iran oil voyages Ship owners covered by Japan P&I club must alert the maritime insurer in advance of any plans to transport Iranian oil and petrochemicals that could fall foul of Western sanctions, the insurer said.The United States and European Union have tightened measures aimed at reducing Iran's oil trade, stemming the flow of petrodollars to Tehran to force the OPEC member to halt a nuclear programme the West suspects is intended to produce weapons.European insurers and reinsurers will be prohibited from indemnifying ships carrying Iranian petrochemicals anywhere in the world from May, and crude and oil products from July.Although Japan's P&I Club, which provides insurance for shipping companies, does not directly fall under the sanctions regime, it is largely dependent on the European reinsurance market to hedge its risk."Any reinsurers including other (P&I clubs) subject to EU legislation will not be able to pay out if a claim involves a sanctioned cargo," said Japan's main ship insurer in a circular to its members on Tuesday."This will impact the member's ability to make a recovery from the club as the club is not able to pay out on any claim in relation to which ...