SWEDISH P&I CLUB WARNS OF INFLATED REPAIR COSTS IN BERBERA

SWEDISH P&I CLUB WARNS OF INFLATED REPAIR COSTS IN BERBERA    The Swedish Club, a protection and indemnity insurance group for shipowners, has warned that vessel owners and operators need to exercise caution when calculating voyage costs if a ship is calling at the port of Berbera, Somaliland.
   “A special provision for unforeseen events should be made for a vessel call at Berbera, given the potential for inflated financial demands” from alleged damage to port facilities, The Swedish Club said in a statement.
   Last December, one vessel insured by The Swedish Club jostled the quay wall in Berbera, doing no more than $20,000 damage. Local authorities detained the ship until the owners paid $160,000.
   Citing alleged damage to the same quay, authorities in Berbera have collected $750,000 and $350,000 after two similar incidents in 2002 and 2001, the Club noted.
   Other P&I clubs “have had similar experiences,” said Goran Rudelius, assistant claims director in The Swedish Club’s office in Hong Kong.
   “There are few options in these situations. The shipowner and the Club have little choice but to accept payment of an inappropriate sum in order to achieve the release of a detained vessel,” Rudelius explained.