A number of marine insurers have announced that they are cancelling their war risk coverage for ships because of the conflict in the Gulf and Iran.

According to notices posted on their websites dated March 1, insurers such as?Gard?, Skuld?, NorthStandard?, the London P&I Club?and the American Club?have announced that their cancellations would take effect March 5.

According to the notices, war risk coverage will not be available in Iranian waters as well as the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent waters.

Skuld stated in its notice that they were working on a purchase option to reinstate coverage.

Japan's MS&AD Insurance Group announced that it has suspended underwriting for a variety of insurance policies relating to war risks in the waters surrounding Iran, Israel and neighboring countries.

The tensions in the Middle East have risen sharply since the U.S., Israel and other forces attacked Iran at the weekend. This prompted Tehran to announce that it had shut down navigation through the Strait of Hormuz - a critical chokepoint for oil and gas flow around the world.

Since then, several tanker owners, major oil companies and trading houses have suspended crude, fuel, and liquefied gas shipments along the narrow waterway. Satellite data also shows that vessels are accumulating in close proximity to key United Arab Emirates port cities such as Fujairah.

Ship-tracking data showed that the disruption was growing on Sunday, as at least 150 oil and LNG tankers were anchored in the Gulf beyond the Strait of Hormuz.

After a seafarer died and at least three oil tankers were damaged off the Gulf Coast, risks increased. (Reporting and writing by Emily Chow, Additional reporting and writing by Trixie Yap, Nidhh Verma and Florence Tan. Editing and editing by Sonali Freed and Jamie Freed.

(source: Reuters)