Insurers escape the wrath of Cyclone Hamish
Despite reaching the same intensity as the devastating Cyclone Larry of 2005, severe tropical cyclone Hamish last week wandered down the Queensland coast but failed to come ashore. Fizzling out off Fraser Island, Hamish saved local insurers from another big storm payout.
There have been no significant property claims as a result of the cyclone, although a trawler and two crew members were lost in heavy seas and a cargo ship heading for Brisbane suffered damage and developed a large oil leak.
Club Marine CEO Mark Bradley says his company has had no claims for damage to small vessels because “Hamish performed like you couldn’t expect a cyclone to”.
He says the cyclone bypassed Whitsunday Islands resorts and crowded marinas. “We were very, very lucky,” he said.
Hong Kong cargo ship Pacific Adventurer lost 31 containers of ammonium nitrate overboard while approaching Brisbane, with one of the containers piercing fuel tanks and spilling “substantially more” than 42.5 tonnes of fuel oil into the sea off Moreton Island, causing significant environmental damage.
The Queensland Government says it will bill the ship’s owner via its insurance company, a UK protection and indemnity club, for the full cost of the $700,000 cleanup.
In a statement, the ship’s owner Swire Shipping says it “very much regrets the environmental impact caused as a consequence of the vessel being caught in Cyclone Hamish” and the company and its insurers will meet all their responsibilities.
There have been no significant property claims as a result of the cyclone, although a trawler and two crew members were lost in heavy seas and a cargo ship heading for Brisbane suffered damage and developed a large oil leak.
Club Marine CEO Mark Bradley says his company has had no claims for damage to small vessels because “Hamish performed like you couldn’t expect a cyclone to”.
He says the cyclone bypassed Whitsunday Islands resorts and crowded marinas. “We were very, very lucky,” he said.
Hong Kong cargo ship Pacific Adventurer lost 31 containers of ammonium nitrate overboard while approaching Brisbane, with one of the containers piercing fuel tanks and spilling “substantially more” than 42.5 tonnes of fuel oil into the sea off Moreton Island, causing significant environmental damage.
The Queensland Government says it will bill the ship’s owner via its insurance company, a UK protection and indemnity club, for the full cost of the $700,000 cleanup.
In a statement, the ship’s owner Swire Shipping says it “very much regrets the environmental impact caused as a consequence of the vessel being caught in Cyclone Hamish” and the company and its insurers will meet all their responsibilities.