Munich Re said it expects its cliams burden from the Costa Concordia shipwreck to be in the “mid double-digit million euro range”.
The reinsurance giant, who was among a group of companies insuring the ship, said the current estimate could vary if the conditions were to change.
A spokesman for Munich Re. said, “besides costs for the vessel under hull insurance, further losses may arise due to liability claims from passengers, recovery of the wreck, and possibly from environmental liability claims.”
The Costa Cordia, a luxury cruise ship carrying 4,229, ran aground on the east coast of Italy last Friday. There have been 11 confirmed fatalities and there are still more than 20 people missing.
Beside the material costs for the vessel and it’s contents, there will be liability claims from the dependents of passangers killed, from passangers injured, and from luggage lost.
To make matters worse, there are fears that if the boat becomes unlodged from its current position it will spill some of the 500,000 gallons of fuel it has stored onboard. This will result in an environmental disaster which will cost insurers millions more.
The ships operator, Costa Crociere SpA, has enlisted the help of SMIT to salvage the wreckage.
At this point it remains unclear exactly how the wreck will be salvaged and what the cost of this will be, but sky news reported experts as saying it will be “chopped up” in the salvage process, raising more concerns for the environment and insurers.
