Japan's Sendai Shiogama port welcomes first foreign ship from disaster

A key port on Japan's northeast coast devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami welcomed a foreign cargo ship on Friday for the first time since the disaster.


The freighter's arrival at Sendai Shiogama, one of 14 main ports along the coast, is the latest sign of a gradual recovery in the region's economy.


The ports had reopened to local shipping but foreign ships have mostly stayed away due to fears of radiation from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co.


Engineers are still struggling to control reactors that had fuel meltdowns and stop the plant's radiation leaks, which have led to thousands of residents being evacuated.


A transport ministry official said ships using the 14 ports were still only about 15 percent of the number before the quake.


The arrival of the Panama-registered "Global Splendour" at Sendai Shiogama, just 100 km north of the nuclear plant, follows confirmation by Miyagi Prefecture officials that radiation levels in seawater and air around the port are safe.


A port official said the 30,000 tonne freighter was carrying 10,000 tonnes of coal from Indonesia.


Joban Kyodo Electric Power, the buyer of the cargo, said it will unload more thermal coal ahead of the planned restart of two of the four units at its Nakoso thermal plant in Fukushima prefecture this summer.


Joban Kyodo, in which Tokyo Electric and Tohoku Electric Power Co each hold a 49 percent stake, took delivery of 6,000 tonnes of Australian coal from an inland barge on May 20, a company spokesman said.


Last week, the first inland coal cargo since the quake was unloaded at Onahama port, 50 km south of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, as the port resumed partial operations.


Due to limited facilities available at Onahama port, the company transferred part of its shipment to the barge, about one-tenth the size of the carrier it usually uses at the port.


Joban Kyodo plans to restart the 600 megawatt No.9 unit at Nakoso for coal and fuel oil mix fuels in early July and the 600 MW No.8 coal thermal unit in mid-July.


For the remaining two units at Nakoso, it expects to restart the 250 MW No.7 coal unit next year and keep the 175 MW No.6 unit shut for now.


Repair work on pipelines carrying fuel oil from the Onahama port is expected to be completed by the time the No.9 unit restarts, the Joban Kyodo spokesman said.
(Source:http://en.portnews.ru)