Shippers have informed that all of Japan's ports have been closed and discharging operations have come to a standstill after the country was struck by a devastating 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami.

A 10-metre tsunami, set off after Japan's northeast coast was hit by the biggest earthquake in about 140 years, swept away everything in its path including houses, cars and farms, eventually igniting them.

A shipbroker remarked, "It's a big mess. All discharge operations are suspended in the area."

Another Tokyo-based shipbroker apprised of having seen TV footage of at least one large Panamax vessel, carrying 80,000 tonnes of coal, iron ore and grains, being grounded in northern Japan due to the tsunami.

With Japanese power plants about to restock their coal inventories and steel companies all set to import more iron ore, as part of the rebuilding process, shipbrokers expect a surge in freight rates in the short-term, according to Exim News Service.