Home ›› 26 Feb 2023 ›› Front
Bangladesh is finally going to get insurance money for the missile-hit ship MV Banglar Samriddhi which is still stranded in the inner anchorage of Olvia port, in war-ravaged Ukraine since February last year.
This is for the first time that a Bangladeshi flag carrier faced such damage in a war-ravaged foreign territory and also gets compensation for the ship and its crew.
The ship will be subrogated to the insurer/reinsurer after the settlement of the Constructive Total Loss (CTL) claim very soon, confirmed Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC), the owner of the ship.
The ship was built at a cost of USD 25.3 million, but the insured value of the ship was USD 22.48 million in 2022 with the deducted depreciation value as per norms of an insurance contract.
Now, the insured value will be paid by the Sadharan Bima Corporation (SBC) after the adjustment of the dues related to premiums and others. A major portion of the amount will come from re-insurer Beazley Syndicate, London.
“As per the blocking and trapping conditions of the Insurance Contract with the SBC, the CTL claim will be paid after the completion of the CTL cycle on February 24,” Commodore Md Ziaul Hoque, BSC Managing Director (MD), said in a written statement.
According to the outcome of a coordination meeting of the Ministry of Shipping held on January 31, the BSC MD said that the compensation likely to be collected on February 27 following discussions with the insurer and re-insurer.
A report on the ship’s current situation has been sent to the Prime Minister’s office as well, said an official.
The ship was added to the BSC fleet on October 10, 2018, under the project of procuring six vessels for BSC—three bulk carriers, three tankers of each 39 DWT (deadweight tonnage).
The bulk carrier entered Ukraine’s Olvia port on February 24, 2022, to load ceramic clay with the intention of discharging in Italy by Denmark-based charterer Delta Corporation.
On the same day, Russia started military operations and then about 21 ships including Samriddhi were stuck due to the lack of pilots, closure of port operations and the laying of mines in the port channel, the BSC official said.
Since then, the Bangladesh government and BSC made various efforts to bring out the ship. But, due to the war and security risks, it was not possible. After the ship was hit by a missile, the authorities were thinking about avoiding monetary loss anyhow.
The BSC chief said that to operate the ship in the international arena, two types of ship insurance are required-- “Hull Insurance” which is done with the Sadharan Bima Corporation in respect of all ships and another is “Protection & Indemnity (P&I)” insurances considered as Third Party Liability which is done with Skuld, Norway.
The CTL claim will be paid under Hull & Machinery Insurance by the Sadharan Bima Corporation.
Crews get compensation
The Bangladesh-flagged ship was damaged during the attack on the night of March 2 where Third Engineer Hadisur Rahman was killed. The vessel was then abandoned and the 28 other surviving crew members returned home safely.
BSC officials said that about Tk 8 crore has been handed over to the families of the injured and killed mariners been paid by the insurer so far, which has also happened for the first time in the country’s history.
The family members of Hadisur Rahman received USD 500,000 equivalent to TK 4.5 crore and TK 3.5 crore was provided for crew repatriation and compensation by Sadharan Bima Corporation (SBC) and reinsurer the Beazley Syndicate, London.
