Reports are coming in on the devastation the 8.9 earthquake has left behind. Seaports and airports are closed in Japan.  

We are intently tracking the shipments scheduled to/from this region.  We are also awaiting reports of our agents' status in Japan and will be able to provide more information to you on Monday.  

We have provided an update from a reliable source below.  If you have any shipments that may be affected, please be sure to contact us for the latest information.

Japanese Shipping Stopped by Earthquake and Tsunami
Mar 11, 2011 4:20PM GMT
The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story

The massive earthquake that struck Japan Friday afternoon local time has closed all ports and airports, according to early news reports. The earthquake, measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale, occurred some 80 miles off the coast of Honshu, Japan's main island, at a depth of 15 miles. A 30-foot high tsunami struck the port of Sendai, about 186 miles northeast of Tokyo.

Japan's shipping industry and services will be hit across the board by the massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that slammed the country Friday, according to an initial assessment of the impact by BIMCO, the independent shipping association in Copenhagen.

"Container shipping may be impacted by lack of exports from the Japanese factories, causing liner companies to leap-frog Japanese ports on their trans-Pacific trading lanes," BIMCO said in its assessment. "Both imports and exports may be affected by force majeure."

Other analysts said the earthquake may be the most expensive natural disaster, with estimates of the insurance loss running as high as $10 billion.

In the short-term, demand for shipping will stop and only slowly start to move once things get back to normal. In the medium to long-term outlook, demand for shipping may be higher because of this natural disaster, said BIMCO, which provides research for its membership, which consists of ship owners, managers, brokers, agents and other maritime stakeholders.

The ports in the northern part of the country are most affected by the quake and the tsunami. "All ports in that area are assumed to be out of order as operations have stopped and port facilities may have been washed away," BIMCO said.

More than 40 ships were scheduled to arrive or depart at the port of Yokohama on Friday. The port ranked 39th on the JOC's list of Top 50 Global Container Ports for 2009, with volume of 2.8 million 20-foot equivalent units of containers.

Dry bulk shipping may be impacted in many ways as Japan is a major importer of thermal coal for power generation, iron ore and coking coal for steel production and grains for food and feedstock.

Several nuclear power plants may be shut down for days or weeks, and coal-fired power plants have experienced coal stocks getting flooded away. Some 18 percent of Japan's refining capacity was shut down by the quake. BIMCO said tanker shipping may be affected as refineries are on fire, reducing product tanker demand.