In brief: The wrecked and mostly sunken cruise liner, Costa Concordia, is likely to turn out to be the worst maritime insurance loss in hisotry, analysts say.
The full story
The cruise ship was a multi-story liner carrying over 4,000 passengers and crew when it ran aground and capsized off Italy's west coast last weekend. Several deaths have been reported and many injuries.
Several insurers are involved in a maritime cruise disaster like this, from coverage for crew to personal injury and death benefits for passengers and rescuers. Environmental damage, ship recovery, and more will all also be paid for through insurance.
The ship was insured for 405 million Euros (about $513 million USD) by insurers that include XL, RSA, and Generali with riders by Allianz. RSA has announced that their exposure was under 10 million Euros and Generali says something similar, so most of the onus is on LX and Lloyd's of London (its owner).
Analysts, such as Joy Ferneyhough at Espirito Santo in London, say that the claims could top $1 billion.
Summing up
Many of the losses will be dependent on weather conditions up to the point that the ship is righted and stabilized.
Photo credits: AP
