London marine insurers to meet after ship attacks in Middle East

[LONDON] 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.

REUTERS