Suez Blockage May Lead To Large Reinsurance Claims, Broker Willis Re Says

The blockage of the Suez Canal is likely to lead to large reinsurance claims, adding to upward pressure on marine reinsurance rates, James Vickers, chair of reinsurance broker Willis Re International, told Reuters.

Formal investigations began this week into how the giant container ship Ever Given ran aground in the canal, shutting down shipping in the major global waterway for almost a week.

The incident and its impact on hundreds of ships delayed in the canal would be a ‘large loss’ for insurance market Lloyd’s of London, its chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown said this week, while Fitch Ratings said global reinsurers were likely to face hundreds of millions of euros of claims.