Costa Concordia the luxury liner was insured for $512 million

Carnival Corp.’s sunken cruise ship, the Costa Concordia, was insured by companies including Assicurazioni Generali SpA (G), RSA Insurance Group Plc (RSA) and XL Group Plc (XL), said three people with knowledge of the policies.

The three are among several insurers facing total costs of about 405 million euros ($512 million), said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the terms of the policies are confidential.

“In terms of physical damage, this will be one of biggest claims around,” said Eamonn Flanagan, an insurance analyst at Shore Capital Group Ltd. (SGR) in Liverpool, England. “Quite often with these accidents the real insurance loss comes if people are injured or killed, which is yet to be determined.”

The Costa Concordia, which was carrying 4,229 passengers and crew, ran aground the night of Jan. 13 near the island of Giglio in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the west coast of Italy after hitting a rock. Five people are confirmed dead and 15 remain missing, according to the Region of Tuscany’s Governor, Enrico Rossi. The ship’s captain has been arrested and is accused of manslaughter, causing the wreckage and abandoning ship, Italian prosecutors said.

The vessel cost 450 million euros to build when commissioned in 2004, according to a press release at the time.

Aon Corp. was Carnival Corp. (CCL)’s insurance broker, Il Sole 24 Ore reported yesterday, without saying where it got the information. Aon spokeswoman Katherine Conway declined to comment on the report.

Loss ‘Widely Spread’
The loss is likely to be “widely spread” around the global insurance and reinsurance markets, Flanagan said. Insurers may be able to claim back some or all of the cost from Carnival’s liability insurers should the ship’s captain be found guilty of causing the wreckage, he said.

“Covering these kinds of risks is part of Generali’s business,” the Italian insurer said in a statement e-mailed to Bloomberg News. “A prudent reassurance policy will limit the net impact of this specific claim to a very marginal level.”

RSA’s net loss from the wreckage will be in the mid single- digit millions of euros, said a person with knowledge of the exposure. XL is the lead underwriter for the capsized ship at Lloyd’s of London, the market that shares claims and premiums between insurers, according to another person with knowledge of the policy.

 

By Kevin Crowley and Marco Bertacche – Jan 16, 2012 5:31 AM GMT+0530 …
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-15/generali-rsa-xl-said-to-insure-concordia-for-405-million-euros.html