Insurers, marine officials tussle

Insurers, marine officials tussle

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Maritime authorities and insurers are
wrangling over the removal of the wreck of a luxury cruise liner
that caught fire and sank off the Malaysian coast last week,
marine insurance sources said on Wednesday.

Malaysian maritime chiefs have written to Singapore's Sun
Cruises, operator of the sunken Sun Vista, demanding the ship be
removed from the Strait of Malacca, one of the world's busiest
shipping lanes.

But insurers for Sun Cruises said the ship was outside
Malaysia's jurisdiction in international waters and posed no
hazard to other ships.

"The owners and the club are considering this with their
lawyers," Michael Stevenson, London-based claims director with
the West of England Protection and Indemnity Club, insurer of Sun
Cruises wreck removal liabilities, said.