The Antwerp Port Authority has announced that it has joined with the Customs service and the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control to put in place extra precautions with vessels arriving from Japan, in the wake of the ongoing problems at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
The plant suffered major damage earlier in the month following the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit the country, with radioactivity in sea water around the facility said to be at dangerous levels.
'As a consequence of the nuclear disaster, there is a possibility that ships from this region may be contaminated with nuclear particles,' the Port Authority noted in a statement. 'Additional measures are being taken to exclude any risk to public health, both for port personnel and persons in the surrounding area.'
Under the terms of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, all ships arriving in Antwerp must present a list of the last 10 ports previously called at, and, if one of these is in the Japan region, then the authorities may carry out additional onvoard measurements to check for radioactivity. If any abnormal readings are discovered, then the ship will be further monitored by FANC.
'The Port Authority, the Customs service and the FANC all wish to emphasise that there is no cause for concern,' the Port Authority added. 'Goods imported from Japan through Antwerp are mainly containers and cars, but the proportion of the total freight volume in the port represented by Japanese imports is relatively small.
'Furthermore, all containers in the port are routinely scanned for radioactivity on a daily basis using the Megaports system. The Megaports detector portals were installed by the Belgian Customs service after the attacks of 9/11, in collaboration with the American authorities.'
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