Iranian insurers are to compensate 30% of the costs of an Iranian oil tanker involved in a collision in early January in the East China Sea, according to the Central Insurance of Iran (CII) in a statement on its official website.
The two domestic insurance companies, Alborz and Mellat, will cover 20% and 10% of the tanker’s losses respectively, while the remaining 70% will be taken care of by a Norwegian insurer, reported Financial Tribune, citing the statement.
Half the share of the Iranian insurers’ risks was reinsured by the CII that also acts as the industry’s regulator, said Dr Abdolnasser Hemmati, CII President.
The tanker Sanchi was run by National Iranian Tanker Company and is worth approximately US$32 million, Dr Hemmati said.
Sanchi was carrying 136,000 tons of condensate from Iran’s Kharg Island to Daesan in South Korea when it collided with a Chinese bulk carrier CF Crystal on 7 January. It had been leased by Hanwha Total Petrochemical and they had made a free on board deal with NITC, according to Dr Hemmati.
“The tanker has been carrying ultra-light crude condensate, and the buyer has received the cargo on the deck. Therefore, it is the Korean company’s responsibility to deal with the pollution resulting from the cargo’s spill,” he said.
Mr Ahmad Safarzadeh, Technical Deputy Manager of Alborz Insurance, said that the tanker has suffered a total loss that requires the insurers to pay a total sum of $32 million.
“The maximum loss we have to pay is $6.4 million and Mellat Insurance’s share also does not exceed $3.2 million and the remaining $22.4 million will be covered by foreign insurance companies,” Mr Safarzadeh told IBENA. M