The collapse of the Baltimore bridge could cost reinsurers several billion dollars, Bruce Carnegie-Brown, president of British insurance broker Lloyd’s of London, said Thursday.
The Dali, a Singapore-flagged container ship, was leaving the port of Baltimore in Maryland when it collided with a bridge pier. The impact caused most of the bridge to fall into the Patapsco River, blocking shipping routes and forcing the indefinite closure of the port of Baltimore, one of the busiest ports on the east coast of the United States.
This “tragedy has the potential to become the largest marine insurance loss ever recorded.” The previous record was the Costa Concordia luxury cruise ship disaster in 2012. According to Morningstar DBRS analysts, the tragedy could lead to up to $4 billion (€3.71 billion) in insurance claims.
More than €7 billion in gross premiums for Lloyd’s in 2022
Lloyd’s, with more than 50 member companies, operates in the property and marine insurance markets. In 2022, it recorded gross premiums of more than £6 billion (€7.01 billion) in marine, aviation and transport insurance and reinsurance. North America is its largest market.
Bruce Carnegie-Brown also added that the insurer had set aside £1.6bn in reserves over the past two years for planes stranded in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. Earlier today, Lloyd’s reported a pre-tax profit of £10.7 billion for 2023.
Source: BFM TV
