Sri Lanka is to
lobby Lloyd's of
London to remove the
'war risk' tag on
the country, which
kept insurance
premiums high,
following defeat of
the LTTE by the
military last week.
Sri
Lankan authorities will soon
approach Lloyd's of London,
a British insurance market,
with a request to review its
classification of the
country as a region with a
war with ships calling on
Colombo having to pay a war
risk premium, Sri Lanka
Ports Authority (SLPA)
sources said. "The SLPA have
had some preliminary
discussions with Lloyd's but
we hope to make an official
representation soon.
It will
be calling on Lloyd's at
London soon and I will
invite them to Sri Lanka,"
the source said. Sri Lanka
can expect the negotiations
to be successful and will
expect ship agents and ship
owners in Sri Lanka to help
us by lobbying with Lloyd's.
The LTTE guerillas have
attempted to hit the port of
Colombo several times.
Though
international shipping is
slowing and the port has
also seen a slowdown in
transshipment traffic, it is
trying to attract new
business, including lay-ups
where idle ships are
anchored for a fee.
