P&I CLUBS MAY CUT OIL TANKER SURCHARGE
The international group of Protection and Indemnity
clubs said that it may reduce the surcharge levied to insure oil tankers trading to and
from the U.S.
Recent claims have allowed premium reductions and a credit balance, the
clubs said.
The surcharge, introduced in 1991 because of the extra reinsurance
costs resulting from the Exxon Valdez spill of 1989, will be reviewed for the policy year
commencing in February 2000.
The international group of P&I clubs had paid for the cost of the
Exxon Valdez incident.
The cost of oil spill clean-up and compensation in the U.S. is still
"much higher than the norm worldwide," the P&I clubs said.