Page 92: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 1996)

ILU Reports Higher Casualty Figures In 1 S|Q '96

Types of Ships

By vessel type, the 31 total losses in the first quarter of 1996 are represented:

General cargo (including container carriers) 21

Tankers 5

RoRos 2

Bulk carriers 1

Fishing/trawlers

Miscellaneous (dredger) 1

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Constructive Total Losses (CTLs) by underwriters.

What is particularly disappointing to insurers is that the quarter's 31 total losses so far confirmed represent a third of all total losses (95) in 1995 as confirmed by the end of that year. Underwriters will be anxious to see how the rest of this year develops," said an ILU spokesperson.

Three of the first quarter's most costly hull and machinery losses were related to the Liberian- flagged containership Nedlloyd Recife (16,915 gt built in 1994) — with an insured value of $17.5 mil- lion and $952,000 under an Increased Value policy - which grounded on rocks off Sao Francisco do Sul,

Brazil, and broke up; another containership, the

Chinese-flagged Gu Cheng (9,683 gt, built in 1985), which sank after taking water and listing in rough seas in Taiwan Strait, with 30 crew missing; and the Maltese-flag bulk carrier Seafaith (36,427 gt, built in 1973), with a cargo of iron ore, which sank in rough seas about 60 miles north of Taiwan ~ with 19 of her crew reported missing. A chemical tanker, the Panamanian-flagged Kira (4,998 gt, built in 1974), with an insured value of $11 million, was carrying cargo of phosphoric acid when she sank after listing in heavy weather off southern

Greece, with 18 crew missing.

Demonstrating the high values often associated with large fishing vessels and their expensive equipment was the loss of the German-flagged stern-trawling fish factory Mainz (3,071 gt, built in 1973) after a severe fire on her factory deck while she was berthed at Cuxhaven; her insured value was just over $10 million, with another $4 million under an Increased Value policy.

Among the major casualties in the first quarter was the Liberian-flagged tanker Sea Empress (77,356 gt, built in 1993), which has an insured value of $30 million. The full extent of the damage she sustained is still unknown. Her well-publicized troubles began when she grounded after hitting rocks, en route to a Milford Haven refinery. She was eventually towed to Belfast for drydocking.

There were several pollution incidents during the quarter, but Sea Empress was the most serious, with major pollution resulting from her ruptured (Continued on page 82D)

There was a disappointing reversal in mer- chant ship casualty experience in the first quarter of this year. This follows an excep- tional year in 1995, which saw some of the lowest loss levels ever recorded, and may sig- nal a return to more normal loss patterns.

Statistics compiled by the Institute of London

Underwriters (ILU) applying to ships of 500- gt and over show that in the three-month period, the number of ships confirmed lost was 31, an increase of five (19.2 percent) com- pared with the same period in 1995, repre- senting 144,237 gt, against 129,339 gt (an increase of 11.5 percent), based on updated confirmations. "The first quarter's figures will undoubted- ly rise as a result of some major casualties, or partial losses, being finally settled as 82 Circle 413 on Reader Service Card Circle 420 on Reader Service Card Maritime Reporter/Engineering News