Central Japan News

Two Japanese navy helicopters crashed into the sea during a training exercise, killing at least one of the eight crew members on board, the defence minister said on Sunday.The two SH-60 patrol helicopters were conducting anti-submarine exercises on Saturday night near Torishima in the remote Izu island group, off the southern coast of central Japan.Defense Minister Minoru Kihara told a press conference the cause of the crash is under investigation. The two flight recorders had been discovered in close proximity to each other and the probability was high that the two helicopters had collided…

Japan received its first low-carbon ammonia cargo from Saudi Arabia on Friday, which it plans to use for co-firing with fossil fuels to reduce carbon emissions, a joint statement from the four companies involved in the deal said. Energy-poor Japan wants to add hydrogen and ammonia to its energy mix, a move criticized by climate activists as costly and not fully effective. Japan has agreed with a number of countries to study hydrogen and ammonia supply chains. Ammonia shipped to…

JERA, the world's biggest liquefied natural gas(LNG) buyer, said on Wednesday that it has begun LNG bunkering business in central Japan through its joint venture with Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Toyota Tsusho and Nippon Yusen KK.The move is aimed at providing an infrastructure needed for LNG-fuelled carriers and promoting a conversion of ships to LNG fuels to help achieve a target by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to halve greenhouse gas emissions from shipping by 2050 compared to 2008, it said in a statement.An LNG bunkering vessel, owned by the joint venture, supplied the fuel earl

Japan rescued about 60 North Korean crew members from a fishing boat that sank after it collided with a Japanese patrol boat that was chasing it out of Japanese waters, the Japan Coast Guard said on Monday.All the crew members that abandoned the fishing boat were rescued and handed over to another North Korean ship, the Coast Guard said.The collision between the North Korean vessel and a patrol ship from Japan's Fisheries Agency took place 350 km (220 miles) northwest of Noto peninsula in central Japan.Following the collision shortly after 9:00 a.m. (0000 GMT), the Fisheries Agency and Coast Guard mobilised seven ships and aircraft to search for North Korean crew members.The Coast Guard did not give details about how the two vessels crashed in the Sea of Japan…

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Chubu Electric Power, Toyota Tsusho, and Nippon Yusen KK said on Friday that their joint venture has placed an order for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessel with Kawasaki Heavy Industries.   The vessel, which is scheduled to be delivered around September-December 2020, will be the first LNG bunkering vessel to be operated in Japan, the companies said in a statement.   The companies plan to start supplying LNG to vessels as fuel in the Chubu region in central Japan.   LNG is seen as an alternative to bunker fuel oil for shipping lines facing a 2020 deadline to meet new international standards on sulphur emissions.   Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Chubu Electric Power, Toyota Tsusho, and Nippon Yusen KK said on Thursday they have agreed to launch a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering business in Japan and have set up two joint ventures.The companies plan to start supplying marine traffic in the Chubu region in central Japan, they said in a statement.LNG has been promoted as an alternative to bunker fuel oil for shipping lines facing a 2020 deadline to meet new international standards on sulfur emissions.(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; editing by Richard Pullin)

Japanese LNG imports reach 8.7 mln T in January, pressuring regional LNG market with China also hoovering up cargoes. Japanese imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) hit their highest in at least five years in January, with shipments expected to continue at a brisk pace this month as freezing weather keeps its grip on the world's top buyer of the fuel. Japan's imports of LNG rose to nearly 8.7 million tonnes last month, up 8 percent from December and the largest volume since at least January, 2013, according to ship tracking data on Thomson Reuters Eikon that stretches back five years. That upturn is piling further pressure on the region's spot markets for the commodity…

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Chubu Electric Power , Toyota Tsusho, and Nippon Yusen KK say they have started discussions to launch a business supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to fuel ships.   Discussions to focus on supplying marine traffic in the Chubu region in central Japan and building supply networks for customers using the fuel, companies said in statement on Friday. LNG has been promoted as an alternative to bunker fuel oil for shipping lines facing a 2020 deadline to meet new international standards on sulphur emissions.   Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick

The U.S. Navy has introduced new measures aimed at avoiding a repeat of two deadly crashes in the Asia Pacific region involving its warships and commercial vessels following a review of its practices, the Seventh Fleet commander said on Monday. Vice Admiral Phillip Sawyer’s comments come after a U.S. guided-missile destroyer was slightly damaged at the weekend when a Japanese tug drifted into it during a towing exercise off central Japan, the latest incident in the Pacific this year involving ships from the fleet. The U.S.

A U.S. guided-missile destroyer, USS Benfold, sustained slight damage when a Japanese tug drifted into it during a towing exercise off central Japan on Saturday, the U.S. Navy said. “No one was injured on either vessel and Benfold sustained minimal damage, including scrapes on its side, pending a full damage assessment,” a statement from the U.S. Seventh Fleet said. “Benfold remains at sea under her own power. The Japanese commercial tug is being towed by another vessel to a port in Yokosuka. The incident will be investigated,” it said. The incident was the latest mishap involving a U.S.

Kobe is the world's top producer of large crankshafts used in tankers and other big ships. Kobe will introduce a new production line at its Takasago Works in central Japan, raising production capacity of crankshafts by 40 to 50 per cent by April 2010 from the current level, the company said. (Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com)

Powerful Typhoon Pabuk, packing winds of up to 79 mph, ploughed into Japan on Tuesday, killing two people, snarling air, sea and rail traffic and forcing Universal Studios to close its theme park. The typhoon landed at around 7:00 p.m. in the western prefecture of Wakayama, becoming the first typhoon to hit Japan's main island of Honshu in two years, the Meteorological Agency said. Local officials issued evacuation recommendations for 7,000 Wakayama residents as the storm pounded the district. The agency warned that Pabuk - a Laotian word for a large, freshwater fish - could make a direct strike on central Japan, near Tokyo, early Wednesday and then pound its way north through Honshu. It was moving at about 20 kph (12.5 mph).