The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has issued a circular letter advising shipmasters to comply with the latest navigational warnings issued by the NAVAREA XI Coordinator (Japan), in the wake of damage to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.

The circular letter notes that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan has confirmed that, at present, all international sea ports not damaged by the 11 March earthquake, and the resulting tsunami, operate normally and, based on the results of measurements of radiation levels by local governments, no health risk has been detected around the ports.

NAVAREA warnings are disseminated by the designated NAVAREA coordinators and can also be downloaded by following the relevant links from http://weather.gmdss.org/navareas.html, in particular:

NAVAREA XI Japan http://www1.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/jhd-E.html
NAVAREA XII United States http://msi.nga.mil/NGAPortal/MSI.portal