Norwegian Hull Club (NHC) is the lead hull and machinery underwriter covering a Grimaldi Group ship that sank off the coast of France in the Bay of Biscay today. The incident is expected to generate total claims in excess of $50m.
Compatriot Gard is also among the list of hull insurers that will be paying out on the loss which was initiated by a fire in a deck container on 56,642-gt Grande America (built 1997).
The blaze broke out 140 miles south of Brest on a deck container two days ago and spread to other deck containers as the vessel headed to Morocco from Germany.
However, experts suggest it is likely the sinking followed fire extinguishing water causing free surface effect on the ship’s deck and putting the vessel into a list from which it could not recover.
The initial fire-fighting operations were carried out by the 21,456-bhp tug Abielle Bourbon (built 2005).
Valuations for the highly specialised ro-ro containership are difficult to assess and the insured value of the hull has not been declared.
But as a guide, research company Maritime Strategies International (MSI) says a fair market value for the Grande America would be between $20m to $22m.
The cargo is also likely to be highly specialised and made up of a combination of high value vehicles and containers.
The salvage bill is already running up with Ardent contracted under Lloyd’s Open Form including Scopic.
It has taken on the 15,000-bhp tug Union Lynx (built 1999) and 16,300-bhp Terasea Hawk (built 2013) to assist in the salvage.
The salvage operation also involved two navy frigates, the Aquitaine and HMS Argyll, which picked up the crew after they abandoned ship.
At the time of writing there is no indication if general average has been declared.
Grande America’s protection and indemnity cover is provided by the North P&I Club.
