By Chikako Mogi and Randy Fabi
SINGAPORE/TOKYO, March 24 (Reuters) - Some merchant ships may be avoiding Japan's Tokyo port due to concerns of radiation exposure to crew members from the quake-crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, an industry official said on Thursday.
"I have heard from local agents that some vessels are not calling in Tokyo due to radiation fears. I'm not sure how many," said Tetsuya Hasegawa, operating manager at Heisei Shipping Agencies in Tokyo.
He said he could not name any specific companies that have diverted their vessels from Tokyo's port, located 250 km (150 miles) south of the Fukushima nuclear plant.
Lloyd's List reported on Thursday that Claus-Peter Offen, one of Germany's largest shipowners, had suspended calls for his company's entire fleet of 110 vessels to Tokyo and Yokohama because of radiation fears.
Should this be the beginning of a trend in the shipping industry, Japan could face major delays and seaborne congestion at ports, adding to supply chain bottlenecks and hindering recovery efforts in the wake of the March 11 earthquake.
Nearly two weeks after the disaster, the world's third largest economy is grappling with threats from radiation leaks as Tokyo's 13 million people were told not to give infants tap water.
Tokyo is Japan's fourth largest port, handling 145 million deadweight tonnes last year, mainly containers, according to Lloyd's List Intelligence.
Officials with the Japanese Shipowners' Association and other shipping firms could not confirm any ships being diverted from Tokyo.
"We are aware of such talk, but there is no such evidence that we know of," said an official at a major Japanese shipping firm.
Japan's port infrastructure was left largely unscathed by the earthquake with around 15 severely damaged.
Twelve of those ports were already usable for recovery efforts and general use, the country's transport minister said on Wednesday. (Reporting by Randy Fabi in Singapore and Chikako Mogi in Tokyo; Editing by Ed Lane)