Insurers Brace for Multi-Million-Dollar Claims from Maersk Honam FireBy Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) – The insurance industry is bracing itself for hundreds of millions of dollars of claims from the biggest container vessel casualty to date – but some shippers will not have been insured.
A Maersk spokesman told The Loadstar this week that no decision had yet been reached on the port of destination for the fire-damaged 15,262 teu Maersk Honam.
However, according to AIS signals received from one of the salvage tugs in attendance, the still-smouldering vessel is under tow, heading slowly in a NNE direction, which could suggest Mumbai as a port of refuge.
But before port authorities consider accepting the vessel on a lay-by berth, they will need to be convinced by the salvage teams that the container fires have been completely extinguished, which could take several more days.
In the case of the 6,750 teu MSC Flaminia, which caught fire in mid-Atlantic on 14 July 2013, it was almost two months before a North European port agreed to accept the ship alongside.
http://gcaptain.com/insurers-brace-for-multi-million-dollar-claims-from-maersk-honam-fire/