LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) Sri Lanka and Yemen have been added to a list of high risk marine areas prone to acts of war and terrorism for merchant ships visiting ports and coastal regions, an industry body said today.
The London insurance market, through its Joint War Committee (JWC), added the countries to its hull list of more than 20 risky areas for shipping prone to war, strikes terrorism and related perils on April 20.
Following weeks of violence many fear Sri Lanka's two-decade civil war is about to reignite.
Neil Smith, secretary of the JWC, said it was unclear whether costs for port calls to Sri Lanka had risen as a result of the new war designation.
Smith said Sri Lanka had been on the cargo list for contents for sometime because of risks associated with transport on land, before its placement on the hull list for the ship itself.
Insurance cover can rise sharply on a new war-risk rating for countries excluded from standard annual cover, with added costs passed on to the charterer and ultimately the consumer.
''It's difficult to know whether rates have turned higher on hull -- that's up to individual brokers in the market,'' he said.
He also said Nigeria, which already had a hull war-risk rating, was expanded to include risk associated with all offshore installations like oil terminals.
Asked why Yemen was given a war-risk rating after having been struck off the list, Smith replied: ''It's due to concerns in the area potentially deteriorating.'' Yemeni waters were given a war-risk and terrorism rating following the attack by al Qaeda on the French oil tanker the Limburg in 2002. In 2000, suicide bombers attacked the USS Cole in the port of Aden killing 17 US sailors.
The JWC, is a joint committee representing the interests of the Lloyd's Market Association and the International Underwriting Association of London.
REUTERS PG ND1822
The London insurance market, through its Joint War Committee (JWC), added the countries to its hull list of more than 20 risky areas for shipping prone to war, strikes terrorism and related perils on April 20.
Following weeks of violence many fear Sri Lanka's two-decade civil war is about to reignite.
Neil Smith, secretary of the JWC, said it was unclear whether costs for port calls to Sri Lanka had risen as a result of the new war designation.
Smith said Sri Lanka had been on the cargo list for contents for sometime because of risks associated with transport on land, before its placement on the hull list for the ship itself.
Insurance cover can rise sharply on a new war-risk rating for countries excluded from standard annual cover, with added costs passed on to the charterer and ultimately the consumer.
''It's difficult to know whether rates have turned higher on hull -- that's up to individual brokers in the market,'' he said.
He also said Nigeria, which already had a hull war-risk rating, was expanded to include risk associated with all offshore installations like oil terminals.
Asked why Yemen was given a war-risk rating after having been struck off the list, Smith replied: ''It's due to concerns in the area potentially deteriorating.'' Yemeni waters were given a war-risk and terrorism rating following the attack by al Qaeda on the French oil tanker the Limburg in 2002. In 2000, suicide bombers attacked the USS Cole in the port of Aden killing 17 US sailors.
The JWC, is a joint committee representing the interests of the Lloyd's Market Association and the International Underwriting Association of London.
REUTERS PG ND1822
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