BUSH APPROVES WAR RISK INSURANCE
President Bush has approved a provision from the secretaries of State and Transportation Departments for insurance or reinsurance of vessels, including their cargoes and crews, entering the Mideast region against loss or damage by war risks.
The president said “for purposes of responding to recent terrorist attacks, whenever, after consultation with the Department of State, it appears to the Secretary of Transportation that such insurance adequate for the needs of the waterborne commerce of the United States cannot be obtained on reasonable terms and conditions from companies authorized to do an insurance business in a State of the United States.”
The approval, authorized under Title XII of the 1936 Merchant Marine Act, is effective for six months.