YACHT FIRE: Lurssen Floating Dry Dock - 146M Project SASSI

Thanks for the explanation. I suppose this is where you see the quality and the value of the insurance purchased. Also the relationship with the insurer is probably longstanding so no party was unaware of what could happen.

There are four companies involved in insuring this loss. They're all layered in, equally sharing in a portion. The owner only had Hull Insurance more than likely as he has probably paid for it already and that should be the only requirement until a formal delivery would have taken place. Lets not also forget the "Floating Dry Dock" which has most likely been insured as well. Multiple losses at play here for many different parties. It's going to be interesting for all parties involved...

Honestly, knowing the build quality of this yard, they have impeccable insurance brokers guiding them through a very detailed risk management process. They have already calculated for this type of loss.

If the buyer wants another boat built, I'd expect them to work it in somewhere down the line but it could easily be a couple of years before it is started.

Wow, if you figure the buyer likely spent two years planning the boat, and it was in build for nearly two years, and if Older Boater is correct guessing it could take two years to restart the build, the buyer could end up waiting eight years for his new yacht. I hope he started the process as a young man. Sad to see an immense dream that required so much planning, so much intricate building and so much financial commitment ended in a few hours.

Money buys almost everything...... but time.

IBI yesterday; "Lürssen fire may result in €590m insurance claim..." !!

Quite a substanial figure. Some insurance companies can file for bankruptcy if required to pay amounts of this magnitude.

There's international laws in place that would prevent that, especially if the loss occurred before the filing. There are 35 cover holders in this loss and it could BK one or more. This will have great effects on the marine insurance industry and will most likely convert to higher premiums for everyone down the road.

No one is into it for more than $50 million so not likely to bankrupt any insurers. Those in it for the most likely have excess coverage for themselves.

If your insurer(s) can't cover your catastrophic loss, you didn't buy insurance...you paid a commission.

Re-insurance is there to spread the losses for a reason...and those companies exist pretty close to where this fire happened and make a pretty penny doing it.

I wonder how long they will take to find the cause and if it will be made public.

I also wonder if that will affect the payout if there was negligence involved. Let’s say a cleaner throwing a cigarette into a bucket of brush cleaner, gas bottles improperly stored, fire detection shut off as it was being triggered by dust, overworked workers working nights to finish the boat.

At the end of the day if a fifty dollar heater burning out unattended has caused a 500 million dollar claim, there will be a big discussion.

Obviously, I don't know anything about German law, but in the US, the findings of any fire inspector are published. For a fire of this magnitude, with scores of fire assets deployed to extinguish the fire at great cost to the public, I can't imagine German law not requiring similar transparency to what's standard across the US.

I believe at some point the cause will be published by the fire inspectors. However, the world at large won't see it, so we're all dependent on someone making the effort to get it.

Other than arson by an insured person, I can't imagine any cause that would impact the payout. Now, some could lead to lawsuits with the insurer trying to recover, but that's unlikely. The fifty dollar heater situation you point out could lead to the insurers forcing a suit against the heater manufacturer. Again, unlikely, but possible. The biggest issue in settling will be agreeing upon the amounts.

Olderboater - You seem to be very well versed in all of this. I enjoy reading your commentary. When I mentioned that this situation could BK one or more of these companies, I wasn't just factoring in this loss. Think of all of the other events that have transpired in the world over the last few months. Total up those losses and the number becomes rather large. Of course all of these companies will most likely share in loss equally across the board, who knows what the current financial outlook is for one or more?

Before a policy or multiple policies for this type exposure are bound and executed, there's a very lengthy process that occurs. One of those would most likely be a loss prevention walk-through by one or all of the companies to see what loss scenarios for all exposures would look like. I guarantee that they have factored in this exposure and a multitude of other exposures/losses before executing this policy for this this Yacht and Floating Dry Dock. It's bigger than just property at this point and I wonder if they are factoring those losses into that number. Time well tell.

I work in Germany at the moment. I was involved in a car accident last year. Fire engines and police came. I (my insurance) was billed for them attending, cleaning up oil etc.

I think this will be the same. The fire fighting efforts will be billed to Lurssen and ultimately the Insurers. I don’t think the public will have to pay.

I think as four firefighters were slightly injured and the local community had to stay indoors for two days, there will be sufficient public pressure to know the cause. Germans arenormally pretty clear cut withthings like that.

Do local people have a right to know if this could happen again or if jobs might move away because of it? I think so.

According to a local newspaper the damage is in excess of 600 million euros. 35 insurances are involved with shares form 1 to 9%.
German link
https://www.weser-kurier.de/deutsch...ehr-als-600-millionen-euro-_arid,1773453.html

I was speaking to a colleague today who told me Project Jupiter also had a major fire at the same facility during the build a few years ago. They managed to catch it just in time though.

Sassi wasn’t as lucky

Do you have a link? Can’t find anything when I search. Thanks