Container services resume at Port of Sendai

Container services resumed this week at the Port of Sendai-Shiogoma, the most important port in Japan’s northeastern region of Tohoku, nearly three months after the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the Journal of Commerce reported.


A container ship operated by Kinkai Yusen Logistics, a subsidiary of NYK Line, on Wednesday became the first such vessel to depart from the Port of Sendai-Shiogama since the twin natural disasters.


The 749-ton domestic feeder vessel Harukaze left for the Port of Tokyo, carrying 140 TEUs of automobile tires produced by Toyo Tire & Rubber. The tires will be reloaded onto a larger container ship at the Port of Tokyo and shipped to North America. Container services remain limited to domestic feeder ships at the port, which took a direct hit from the tsunami.


The Port of Sendai-Shiogama is one of 23 Japanese ports designated by the central Japanese government as specially important ports for international maritime transport. It is the only such port damaged by the March 11 twin natural disasters. It handled about 220,000 20-foot equivalent container units last year, accounting for approximately 60 percent of all containers handled at ports in the Tohoku region.
(Source:http://en.portnews.ru)