News
Earthquake-ravaged container ports are dealing with the damage they suffered from the recent catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that hit many municipalities in northeastern Japan.
At the Port of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture, the leading container port in the Tohoku area, an investigation was just launched as of the evening of March 15 into the number of containers that had sunken under water in front of the port’s container terminal (CT), while efforts were also just commenced to restore roads that lead to the CT.
Due to electrical system defects, four gantry cranes, 11 straddle carriers and the container freight station (CFS) are all far from operational.
As such, it is expected to take a considerable amount of time until the CT is restored, and shipping lines that operate service calling Sendai are thought to skip the port, call Keihin ports instead and/or undertake other measures to manage the situation.
At the Port of Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture, it is also projected to take time to see whether or not cranes and other yard equipment can be used, and secure sufficient drafts in channels that have been sanded by the tsunami.
The Port of Onahama in Fukushima Prefecture as well as the ports of Hitachinaka and Kashima in Ibaraki Prefecture cannot play host to containerships yet.
