Survey Vessel Joins Hunt for Lost F-35
Japan expanded its search for a missing F-35 stealth fighter on with a maritime survey vessel joining a navy ship and a U.S. Navy salvage team is expected in the area in coming days, a Japanese air force spokesman said.Only small pieces of the Japanese Air Self Defense Force aircraft's tail have been found since the advanced jet disappeared from radar screens during an exercise with three other F-35s over the Pacific, near northwest Japan, on April 9."The plane and the pilot are still missing," the air force spokesman said.
Asia Freight Seen Easing, But Demand Firm
Asian Panamax cargo rates for grains and minerals are likely to ease this week after a recent surge sent charterers to the sidelines, but demand in the Pacific market remains robust, traders said last week. "Charterers are reluctant to make deals due to recent higher rates, while ship owners are apparently not agreeing to discounts given the current firm market sentiment," said a shipping broker. Charterers were holding back on striking fixture deals in the hope of a decline in freight rates as well as bunker prices, he said. There have been no fixture deals between charterers and ship owners since the middle of last week, he said. But he said demand for Panamax cargoes…
Controversial Fuel To Reach Port Soon
A nuclear fuel shipment to Japan that has stirred up protests by environmentalists is expected to reach port aboard two British cargo ships on Sept. 22, according to Japanese media sources. The ships, carrying MOX fuel, a mixture of uranium and plutonium recycled from spent nuclear fuel, will arrive at a port near the city of Iwaki, about 130 miles north of Tokyo. The armed British cargo ship Pacific Teal left the French port of Cherbourg on July 21 and subsequently linked up with the Pacific Pintail, its sister ship, for the journey to Japan. The Pacific Pintail had been loaded with MOX from Britain's Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant.
