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Ship insurance costs soar after Middle East tanker attacks
 [DAWN] Insurance costs for ships sailing through the Middle East have increased by at least 10% after attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, with the potential for costs to rise further as regional tensions escalate, ship insurers said.10% = "soaring"? Ten percent since Thursday is. The attacks have already stoked concerns about reduced flows of crude oil on one of the world's key shipping routes, pushing up oil prices by as much as 4.5%. Some tanker companies have already suspended new bookings to the Middle East Gulf. Freight rates for supertankers transporting oil from the Middle East Gulf to Asia were already close to a two-month high on Thursday at nearly $13,000 a day, up nearly $2,000 from Wednesday. Every ship needs various forms of insurance, including annual war-risk cover as well as an additional 'breach' premium when entering high-risk areas. These separate premiums are calculated according to the value of the ship, or hull, for a seven-day period. Ship insurers say the biggest vessels sailing through the Gulf area face additional costs of up to $200,000 for a single seven-day voyage, roughly twice as expensive as earlier this week Posted by: Fred 2019-06-15 |
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