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Ships
calling in Sri Lanka may still be
subject to war risk premiums,
despite contrary claims from the
government and Sri Lankan Port
Authority.
Responding
to reports that Colombo port has
been taken off the war risk premium
list, Rupert Atkin, chairman of the
London joint war risk committee
described comments from ports
minister Rauf Hakeem and ports
authority chairman Parakarama
Dissanayake as “very offensive”.
Underwriters
retain full control over what
business they write, and at what
price, Atkin stressed.
“The
committee are not the people that
set the rates — it is up to the
market,” he said.
“We
have bent over backwards to be
helpful, but we are not going to
give this cover for nothing.”
The
news will be seen as a serious
setback for the country, which has
found the surcharges extremely
damaging to its economy.
The
premiums were imposed after a Tamil
Tiger rebel attack on Colombo
airport last year, and at one stage
rose as high as 0.7 per cent-1 per
cent of the value of hull and
machinery.
This
was reduced to 0.0125 per cent after
the Sri Lankan government posted a
US$50m guarantee.
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