London marine insurers to meet after ship attacks in Middle East
London's
marine insurance market will meet on Thursday to assess the situation in the
Middle East after attacks on ships off the United Arab Emirates earlier this
week, a senior official said on Wednesday.
On
Monday, armed drones attacked two of Saudi Aramco's oil pumping stations and
forced the state producer to briefly shut its East-West pipeline. The incident
came two days after an attack on four oil tankers - two of them owned by Saudi
Arabia - off Fujairah in the UAE.
"The
Joint War Committee will meet tomorrow to assess the situation in the
Gulf," said Neil Roberts, head of marine underwriting at Lloyd's Market Association
(LMA), which represents the interests of all underwriting businesses in
London's Lloyd's market.
"There
is no decision yet on whether to change the listed areas of enhanced risk.
There are a number of options, which include no change," he told Reuters.
The
Joint War Committee, which comprises syndicate members from the LMA and
representatives from the London insurance company market, normally meets every
quarter to review areas it considers high risk for merchant vessels and prone
to war, strikes, terrorism and related perils.