Govt-owned insurer offers country's first P&I cover
P&I cover for vessels offered by New India
State-run New India Assurance has launched a new insurance cover, namely, protection and indemnity (P&I) cover for Indian registered vessels, starting with vessels plying local routes. This is reportedly India's first P&I cover by a domestic insurer.
New India Assurance has offered the maiden cover to two river sea vessels run by Mumbai-based SVS Marine after the P&I product was approved by the IRDAI
The New India Assurance cover has a limit of $5 million per vessel. “With reinsurance support, we can stretch it by another $10 million,” said Mr Sanjiv Singh, a deputy general manager at New India Assurance. The plan is to offer cover for coastal ships for a few years before moving onto ocean-going vessels.
That is small compared to the P&I cover issued by London-based International Group of P&I Clubs, a 13-member group which insures close to 90% of the world’s merchant ships, placing a $1-billion limit on individual claims that involve pollution damage and wreck removal.