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.