Southwestern Japan News

Japan's industry and land ministries on Wednesday picked three consortia, including one featuring Germany's RWE and its partners, to operate offshore wind farms in the second round of a public auction. They said they would award a fourth wind farm that was part of the tender at a later date.The results of the second major round under a new law to promote wind power were closely watched by energy companies at home and abroad, after the first round was dominated by Mitsubishi Corp.Japan's…

Taiwan hopes to deploy at least two new, domestically developed submarines by 2027, and possibly equip later models with missiles, to strengthen deterrence against the Chinese navy and protect key supply lines, the head of the program said.Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has made the indigenous sub program a key part of an ambitious project to modernise its armed forces as Beijing stages almost daily military exercises to assert its sovereignty.President Tsai Ing-wen…

Two people died and nine were missing after a cargo ship sank off southwestern Japan early on Wednesday amid fierce winter winds, the coast guard said, as it continued to search for survivors.Six people who were rescued remained unconscious, while five had revived as of 8:30 p.m. local time (1130 GMT), the Japan Coast Guard said, partly citing information from its South Korean counterpart.The 6,651-tonne Hong Kong-registered Jintian - which had 22 crew on board who were Chinese or Myanmar nationals according to media reports - issued a distress call late on Tuesday…

Japan's coastguard said on Monday that its search-and-rescue mission for 40 missing crew from a capsized cattle ship in the East China Sea remains suspended, with no timing set for resumption.So far, two crewmen have been rescued, while another died after being found unconscious on Friday. Their ship, the Gulf Livestock 1, had sent a distress call from the west of Amami Oshima island in southwestern Japan last Wednesday as Typhoon Maysak lashed the area with strong winds and heavy seas.The search was suspended due to bad weather on Saturday, when Typhoon Haishen was headed towards southwestern Japan.The ship had been carrying 43 crew members and nearly 6,000 cattle. (Reporting by Sakura Murakami Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Kim Coghill)

A ship carrying 43 crew and nearly 6,000 cattle from New Zealand to China capsized after losing an engine in stormy weather in the East China Sea, the only crew member rescued so far told Japan's coastguard on Thursday.The Gulf Livestock 1 sent a distress call from the west of Amami Oshima island in southwestern Japan on Wednesday as Typhoon Maysak lashed the area with strong winds and heavy seas.Japan's coastguard said it had rescued one crew member, Sareno Edvarodo, a 45-year-old chief officer from the Philippines, on Wednesday night (Tokyo time) while searching for the ship.According to Edvarodo, the ship lost an engine before it was hit by a wave and capsized, a coastguard spokeswoman said.When the ship capsized, crew were instructed to put on lifejackets.

Oil that reached islands in southern Japan earlier this month is highly likely to have come from the sunken Iranian tanker Sanchi, the Japan Coast Guard said on Thursday. Samples of oily matter that washed up on Feb. 8 on the shores of the Okinoerabu and Yoron islands in the Amami chain were found to be linked to the Sanchi's sinking, the Coast Guard said. The Sanchi sank on Jan. 14 after colliding with a freighter on Jan. 6 in the world's worst oil tanker disaster in decades.

Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) spot prices for September delivery were higher on Friday supported by nearby demand from new importers including Jordan and Pakistan, traders said. The price of Asian spot cargoes rose to $8.10 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), from $7.80 the previous week. "(It's) just unexpected demand with very short lead times," said a trader. Jordan is expected to announce results of a tender for two cargoes for delivery in early September on July 29, while Pakistan has held several tenders to buy at short notice. Other activity which supported prices included Argentina's YPF purchasing five LNG cargoes on behalf of state-run energy firm Enarsa following its recent tender, to be supplied by Statoil, Trafigura and BP.

According to 'The Japan Daily Press' the Government’s feed-in tariffs have just gone into effect this month , making electricity generated from renewable resources like solar and wind to be sold at higher prices for the next 20 years. This wind farm, along with announced plans for the construction of Japan’s largest solar panel farms , is one of the first real signs that the country is making steps to reduce its reliance on nuclear power. This first wind farm will be built to the east of Tokyo, off the coast of Choshi, and there are already plans to have a second wind farm, capable of producing 2 megawatts of electricity starting next May, to be built off the coast of Kitakyushu, in southwestern Japan.

Japan is preparing to bolt turbines onto barges and build the world’s largest commercial power plant using floating windmills, tackling the engineering challenges of an unproven technology to cut its reliance on atomic energy. Marubeni Corp., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Nippon Steel Corp. are among developers erecting a 16-megawatt pilot plant off the coast of Fukushima, site of the nuclear accident which pushed the government to pursue cleaner energy. The project may be expanded to 1,000 megawatts, the trade ministry said, larger than any wind farm fixed to the seabed or on land. “Japan is surrounded by deep oceans, and this poses challenges to offshore wind turbines attached to the bottom of the sea…

Saba reported that the Minister of Oil and Minerals Khalid Mahfoudh Bahah said that would receive next May two vessels of 's liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. During his visit to a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' dock in Nagasaki, in southwestern Japan, to see construction of two LNG vessels, Bahah said "we expect to have receive these ships operational and receive them by May, with a full-loading capacity of around 150,000 cubic meters". In press remarks in the Japanese capital , Bahah revealed that may announce its fifth international bid round for onshore oil fields at its energy conference planned October-December this year. The Yemen LNG project is on course to begin production by the end of the year with first delivery expected early 2009.

Rescue officials found a body during a search for a Korean ship missing off southwestern Japan, raising fears the cargo vessel foundered in heavy seas with 28 crew on board, Japan's coast guard said. "Given the facts, we have to conclude that the ship has probably sunk," a coast guard spokesman said. The 22,725-ton Korean-registered Honghae Sanyo vanished with a cargo of gravel in heavy winds and high seas late on Tuesday after failing to pick up a navigator en route to a port in Hyogo, some 700 km (432 miles) southwest of Tokyo. No distress signal was received. A coast guard spokesman said that a body, believed to be that of a crew member, was discovered late on Wednesday near Cape Muroto on Japan's smallest main island of Shikoku during a search by planes and patrol boats.