Quake debris forces ships to reroute

The massive amount
of debris caused by the
March 11 quake and
the tsunami in Japan is
forcing ships to change
their routes, an industry
association official said.
Some 80% of Japanese
ships for domestic
transport need to travel via
the Sea of Japan instead
of the Pacific Ocean due
to the amount of floating
debris that is dangerous
to small ships of less than
499 gross tonnes, the
official at Japan Federation
of Coastal Shipping
Associations said.
There are 5 600 ships
in Japan used for domestic
transportation, and 4 500
are small ships of less than
499 gt.