Hiroshima (Platts)--4Apr2011/513 am EDT/913 GMT

A total of 15 ships have refused to call at Japan's Yokohama, Tokyo and Kawasaki ports on the Tokyo Bay, since the March 11 quake possibly due to radiation fears, a government official told Platts Monday.

Fifteen ships from overseas refused to call at Japan's main ports in the Tokyo Bay located 225-300 km southwest of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor, according to an official in charge of shipping at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport & Tourism.

The number of ships, which had refused to call at the ports, was revealed at a meeting of port authorities in Tokyo last Friday, said the official, adding that the break down of the vessels by type and whether they had called at other Japanese ports, was not clear.

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Yokohama is Japan's busiest port. It received 10,765 ships from overseas in 2010. Tokyo port received 6,128 ships. The Kawasaki port figure was not available.

Meanwhile, an official in charge of port management at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport & Tourism said Monday that no shipping company had dropped Japanese ports from their regular shipping routes since the earthquake.

--Mayumi Watanabe, mayumi_watanabe@platts.com