Shipowners and charterers may note that the war Underwriters are charging significantly high additional premium on the war risk cover if the vessels trade to the piracy prone area such as Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea etc. In this circular we would like to explain the correlations between the war additional premium and the piracy attacks.
In a hijacking incident, shipowners, after paying the ransom, will normally seek for recovery of the ransom payment from time charterers or cargo owners through declaring General Average. If the piracy risk is included in the war cover, the war insurers will need to cover the General Average contribution for the hull portion. With a ransom of exceeding US$ 4 million in average nowadays and with the increasing number of piracy attacks in Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, the war Underwriters are exposed to an extremely high risk for contributing the GA (i.e. the ransom) if the piracy risk is included in the war policy. Therefore, it is noted that an extremely high war additional premium will be charged when the vessels transiting the piracy prone area, especially when the war risk insurers also cover the piracy risk.
However, the war additional premium could be negotiated based on the anti-pirate measurements and the purchase of Kidnap & Ransom insurance, which are the good way to reduce the risk exposure of the war risk insurers to bear the GA contribution for the hull portion in a hijacking incident.
不断增长的战争险额外保费与海盗高危区域海盗袭击的联系
相信各船东或租家已经注意到，战争险保险人对于船舶通过海盗高危区域时，例如亚丁湾，印度洋，阿拉伯海等地区时，征收了显著高的战争险附加保费。我们希望在这篇通函中为大家解释一下战争险附加保费同海盗袭击的联系。
当船舶被海盗胁持，船东在支付完赎金后，往往会通过宣布共同海损来追讨期租租家或货主分摊赎金。当然，船东亦会以其船舶价值承担部份共同海损分摊。如果战争险包含了海盗风险，战争险保险人就需要赔偿船东的共同海损分摊部份。在现今赎金平均超过400万美金以及在阿拉伯海及印度洋不断增加的海盗袭击数量的情形下，战争险的保险人对于分摊共同海损（赎金）承担着极其高的风险。因此，当船舶需要经过海盗区时，战争险的保险人会征收极其高的额外战争险保费，尤其是战争险的保险人也承保海盗风险。
然而，战争险的额外费率是可以跟战争险保险人协商的，特别是船东已安排了完善的防海盗措施以及海盗赎金险，因为此举能够减小战争险保险人在胁持事件中承担共同海损分摊的风险。
