|
Asian
shipowners have urged insurance
underwriters to work together
and take into account the woes faced
by the industry before taking any
unilateral action that might have
negative impact on the development
of the industry.
The
Asian Shipowners Forum Committee on
Ship Insurance which met in Hong
Kong last week acknowledged that the
tragic events of the 11th September
in New York and the consequent
losses faced by the insurance
industry.
However,
the Committee felt subsequent
response by insurance underwriters
to introduce war risk premium was
unjustified as there had been no
change in underlying risk.
The
meeting was attended by Federation
of ASEAN Shipowners Associations (FASA),
as represented by the shipowners
associations of Indonesia, Malaysia,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
and Vietnam as well as shipowners
associations from China, Chinese
Taipei, Japan, Korea and Hong Kong.
The
meeting also discussed the draft
Protocol to the 1992 International
Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC)
Fund Convention, which
establishes a third tier
supplementary fund for oil Pollution
Compensation.
The
Committee noted the outstanding
issues on the matter and agreed to
support the proposal made by the
International Group, to voluntarily
increase the limits of liability for
small ships in return for no
amendment to the 1992 CLC that
affected owners’ liabilities.
The
Asian shipowners also wanted an
equitable solution to be found on
passenger compensation as proposed
in the Protocol to the 1974 Athens
Convention.
The
meeting repeated its concern
expressed at its last meeting that
the proposed limitation figures when
applied to the number of the
passengers on a large passenger ship
could result in a situation where
existing insurance cover would not
be adequate.
The
Committee urged P&I Club to
seriously consider the potential
effect such a claim could have on
the non-passenger ship members if
individual P&I clubs and through
the pooling agreement on the
International Group as a whole.
|
