Higher insurance rates, tanker war threat looms for ship owners

Ship owners and charterers face higher insurance rates and a possibility of a tanker war in the Middle East after six vessels were hit by explosives in May and June, Tanker Shipping and Trade reported. Marine insurers including Norway-based Gard A.S. and the Norwegian Shipowners' Mutual War Risks Insurance Association have raised threat levels in the Gulf region while U.K.-based insurers have deemed the coastal areas along Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Saudi Arabia as high risk.

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