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Billions lost in Sandy's wake, says IUMI

Billions lost in Sandy's wake, says IUMI
London: Hurricane Sandy has cost the global marine market a total of between $2.5bn and $3bn, the International Union of Maritime Insurance (IUMI) reports.  

According to the union’s annual Spring Statistics report, the payouts effectively wipe out the entire US premiums for 2012, resulting in losses for many insurers, and will “define 2012 in the eyes of the underwriters”.

Weather remains the largest cause of hull losses, with stats showing it is responsible for 50% of all incidents since 2008.

“Some severe losses hit several lines of marine insurance business in 2012”, said IUMI president Ole Wikborg, “Although the claim frequency and cost are beyond our control, we’re going to do our part to change things for the better in 2013. Hence for IUMI’s 2013 London conference in September, we’ve chosen the common theme ‘Building resilience – defining for a sustainable future’”.

The reports also found global scrapping levels at an “all time high” representing 60m dwt in 2012. Meanwhile in the offshore industry, 74 rig newbuilds are slated for delivery in 2013 compared to 36 the year before.