Eastern Japan News

“No new fishing vessel has been (added) during the period,” says the email we get from Japan’s largest seafood company, Maruha Nichiro Corp. A year earlier, they had bought shares in New Zealand outfit, Sanford, which had just chartered a Nordic-looking vessel. Seafood rival, Nissui, had just done the same, buying New Zealand and Nordic. That all happened after the Naval Architect’s Society of Japan said a vessel based on the Icelandic design of Reykjavik’s Navis was its Ship of the Year.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.0 struck eastern Japan on Sunday and shook buildings in Tokyo, officials and witnesses said, but there was no danger of a tsunami and no immediate report of injuries or major damage. The US Geological Survey (USGS) put the epicentre of the quake 44 km (27 miles) northeast of Tokyo at a depth of about 44 km. There were no were immediate reports of damage. Broadcaster NHK reported that the Tokai No. 2 nuclear power station, which has been shut since 2011, was checked for damage after the quake but none was found. Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas, which accounts for a fifth of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger.

Asia's gasoil and jet fuel margins edged lower on Monday in the absence of most sentiment-supporting factors, with the exception of refinery maintenance, traders said. The May gasoil crack, or profit from processing a barrel of crude into the fuel, slipped 48 cents to $17.72 a barrel above Dubai crude while the jet fuel crack fell 54 cents to $15.73, Reuters data showed. The physical regrade, or the price difference between jet fuel and gasoil in Asia, widened to minus $2.32, weighed down by low demand for jet fuel, the sources said. "For the moment, there are few things to support jet fuel as the use of kerosene for heating is over," a trader said. Amid thin demand for gasoil and jet fuel in Asia, refinery maintenance in the second quarter has provided some support to the market.

Five separate episodes of heroism and bravery on the high seas were recognized at the 42nd annual United Seamen's Service Admiral of the Ocean Sea (AOTOS) dinner. The AOTOS event itself honored James L. Henry, Chairman and President of the Transportation Institute; General Duncan J. McNabb, USAF, former Commander, U.S. Transportation Command; and Robert D. Somerville, Chairman of ABS (formerly the American Bureau of Shipping). The maritime industry's most prestigious awards since…

· Reported fourth quarter net profit of $2.4 million or $0.15 per share (‘EPS’). · Earned average Time Charter Equivalent (‘TCE’) of $26,575 per day for the two Very Large Crude Carriers (‘VLCCs’) and $23,826 per day for the three Suezmaxes in the Company’s fleet. Crude Carriers Corp. (NYSE: CRU) reported its financial results and declared a cash dividend of $0.30 per share for the fourth quarter of 2010 payable on March 2, 2011 to shareholders of record on February 23, 2011. The Company’s net profit for the quarter was $2.4 million or $0.15 per share, principally as a result of the commercial operations of our vessels that earned above the TD 3 and TD 5 indices that prevailed in the  crude tanker market during the fourth quarter of 2010…