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The International Shipowners Insurance Group (IG P&I) has decided not to insure the ships that could be involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. This decision will make it even more difficult to complete the Kremlin’s strategic project, which is already being debated between sanctions.
“All club members must understand that no boat may be prohibited from engaging in illegal activities or activities that put the club at risk of violating sanctions. Due to the threat of direct sanctions against policyholders posed by US laws CAATSA and PEESA, the clubs will not prohibit insurance activities related to Nord Stream 2 or Turk Stream, the group said in a statement.
In June 2020, US senators presented a new law to Congress that proposed sanctions for companies that provide insurance services to ships operating on the Nord Stream 2 project. If passed, the bill will have very serious consequences for non-US shipowners, their operators and their policyholders, according to the IG P&I report.
The writing of the international group report is mandatory, but individual club members are “strongly advised” to evaluate and minimize the risks associated with entering into Nord Stream 2 or Turk Stream contracts to avoid penalty restrictions.
It can be difficult to find insured
The Turk Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey was officially launched in early 2020. The most exciting Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which is most opposed by Poland and Lithuania and which should connect Russia with Germany to the bottom of the Baltic Sea, is not yet complete, with about 6 percent to build. a section belonging exclusively to the Danish economic zone.
Work was halted in December 2019 following the passage in the US Congress of the PEESA law, which threatens sanctions against ship owners involved in the Nord Stream 2 construction sites.
IG P&I is a mutual insurance ship-owned group, an association that unites the 13 largest ship insurers in the world (Great Britain, USA, Scandinavia, Japan, etc.). Members of this club pay annual insurance contributions to the club’s fund, which is then used to cover shipowners’ losses in the event of an accident. This association bans about 90 percent. tonnage of all seagoing vessels in the world. The remaining 10 percent. the market is covered by several commercial insurance companies.
The Russians have been searching for ships to complete the planned work since the beginning of this year. The pipelaying vessel Akademik Čerskij from the Gazprom fleet was mentioned as a candidate for this mission, but no action has been taken so far.
According to RBK sources in the insurance market, IG P & I’s insistent recommendations will make it more difficult to find ships that can work with the Nord Stream 2 project. According to them, any country admits ships in its territorial waters as long as their owner is adequately insured. According to sources, the “very limited single” commercial market for ship insurance continues to exist.
The Navaln poisoning also contributed
Already adopted US laws and their interpretation will deter multinational companies from any involvement in the project, said Maria Shagina, a sanctions expert at the University of Zurich. Discussions in Germany about a possible closure of Nord Stream 2 after the Navalna poisoning raise doubts about the end of the project itself, she is convinced.
“Without the political support of Berlin, many international companies will think twice before trying to provide any services to Gazprom,” Shagina told RBK.
US Secretary General Mike Pompeo said the US was preparing to form a coalition that would prevent the construction of Nord Stream 2. He said Nord Stream 2 was a threat to Europe because it made it dependent on Russian gas and a threat for Ukraine.
“We hope that the German authorities also agree with the assessment of the dog, either because of what happened to Alexei Navaln or because of the security problems that will arise with dependence on Russian gas,” explained the US Secretary of State.
US President Donald Trump has also spoken out in favor of abandoning Nord Stream 2 in response to the Navaln poisoning. He noted that he had previously spoken out against the project. According to Trump, he is outraged that “Germany will sign a treaty that will pay Russia billions of dollars, and we must protect Germany from Russia.”
According to Le Monde intelligence sources, French President Macron was outraged by Putin’s statement that Navaln may have poisoned Novičiok himself.
According to the publication, the conversation with the president of Russia significantly angered Macron and significantly worsened the no longer better relations between the EU and Moscow. “Macron has a huge ego, he thinks he shouldn’t grit his teeth. He waited for them to tell him that the incident with Navalnai was an internal matter, perhaps an illegal operation by a small Chechen official, and the latter was already being intensively searched, “said an anonymous source in French security structures. For this reason, the French leader allegedly got angry when he heard the version named by Putin.
According to Business Insider sources, despite his loyal relationship with Putin, Macron was still very dissatisfied with the conversation.
Lithuania’s long-term ambassador and former Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis claims that in political terms, the emergence of this gas pipeline is even beneficial for Lithuania. “The negotiations show that the constant pressure on Russia to comply with international law is producing good results and inspiring the use of consistent pressure tactics in other areas as well,” he said.
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