Asian operators asking to cover tankers hauling Iranian crude: report

TEHRAN, May 16 (MNA) – Iran’s Kish Protection & Indemnity Club that insures ships said it has been approached by Asian tanker operators about covering their vessels, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Chinese and Taiwanese companies that manage tankers have inquired about obtaining insurance for tankers hauling crude oil, refined fuels or chemicals from the Kish Protection & Indemnity Club, managing director Mohammad Reza Mohammadi Banayi said. Banayi said the club, which covers 43 Iranian ships, isn’t authorized to insure foreign vessels. “We are in a position to step in but we are not authorized to do so,” Bloomberg quoted Banayi as saying by phone from Tehran. “We have been contacted by lots of people in different parts of the world.” Asian shippers are seeking new sources of insurance for Iranian cargoes because the European Union’s embargo extends to 95 percent of the world’s tankers that are covered by the 13 members of the London-based International Group of P&I Clubs. Ship owners in Japan and India have asked for sovereign guarantees. The government in China, Iran’s largest customer, has underwritten some Iranian shipments, the International Energy Agency said in March.