Insurance Jottings
Ex-Canopius renewables team secures Berkley support for new MGA Praeventus
Praeventus, the new MGA launched by Canopius’ former renewable energy team, will begin underwriting on the 1st June backed by capacity providers led by Berkley Offshore and a panel of Lloyd’s insurers including Munich Re Syndicate Ltd.
Insurer Disappointed After Egyptian Court Upholds Detention of Tanker Ever Given
An Egyptian court ruled on the 4th May that the container ship which blocked the Suez Canal in March could continue to be held in the waterway, rejecting an appeal by its Japanese owner against its detention, a judicial source said.
The Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, got jammed across the canal on the 23rd March and remained stuck for six days, stopping traffic in both directions.
It has been held in a lake between two stretches of the canal since being dislodged on the 29th March, amid a dispute over a US$916 million claim by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) against Japanese owner Shoei Kisen for compensation over the incident.
The SCA has been conducting investigations into the cause of the ship’s grounding, but has yet to announce the results.
The court in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, which had approved the detention of the ship following the submission of a report by the SCA, upheld that decision on the 4th May, rejecting an appeal made late last month.
The reasoning for the ruling was not immediately clear, but the SCA argued that the plaintiff had not notified all the required parties of its challenge to the ship’s detention within the required time limit.
The ship’s protection and indemnity insurer, UK Club, said the owners were reviewing their options in light of the decision, and had until the 20th May to appeal.
UK Club and the Ever Given’s technical manager Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) have expressed disappointment at the ship’s detention.
UK Club said last month the appeal was made “on several grounds, including the validity of the arrest obtained in respect of the cargo and the lack of supporting evidence for the SCA’s very significant claim.”
International supply chains were thrown into disarray when the 400-metere(430-yard) Ever Given ran aground in the canal, with 18,300 containers on board.
Charles Taylor continues European expansion with IES deal
Charles Taylor has continued its expansion in Europe with the acquisition of loss adjusting practice Insurance Engineering Services (IES), Milan.