Yangtze capsize ship insurance payout estimated at US$14.9m: Xinhua

[SHANGHAI] China's insurance regulator estimates the payout in the fatal Yangtze cruise ship capsizing last week, which killed more than 400 people, at around 92.5 million yuan (S$20 million), the official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) told a conference on Wednesday that insurance firms underwrote 340 contracts for parties involved with the accident, ranging from shipowners and travel agencies to passengers and crew members.

Another official media outlet, the Shanghai Securities News, reported on Thursday that the ship, owned by Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corporation, was insured for by 15.7 million yuan by the People's Insurance Company of China (PICC).

The Chongqing branch of PICC has paid 10 million yuan to Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corp so far, said the paper.

It said CIRC's estimates also included 12 million yuan of liability insurance for travel agencies, 61.7 million yuan of personal insurance for 396 passengers and 3.12 million of personal insurance for 18 crew members.

The four-deck Eastern Star was hit by a freak tornado on June 1 and capsized on the Yangtze River in one of China's worst shipping disasters in nearly 70 years.

REUTERS