L'ATLANTIQUE FIRE.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20920, 29 July 1933, Page 11

L'ATLANTIQUE FIRE.

DISPUTE OVER INSURANCE. ; BRITISH UNDERWRITERS' CLAIM (UITIITD TRZSH AB6OC.IA.TIOJT BT HLXCrJUC TXtESBAPH—COPTJUGHT.) (Received July 28, 7.40 p.m.) PARIS, July 27. The British underwriters responsible for the insurance of the liner ' L'Atlantique say that she could ' have been restored in eight months 5 in a British yard to her original ' condition, at a cost of £1,175,000. ' If they can prove this to the satis- \ faction of the commercial tribunal [ of the Department of the Seine, , they will be required to pay only I that amount. Otherwise they must : pay the owners about £2,000,000. [The French luxury liner L'Atlan- . tique of 45,512 tons was burnt to a shell following an outbreak of fire on " January 4, when she was on her war to Le Havre for overhaul. Fortunately • there were no passengers on board at ? the time, but some members of the l crew were drowned before they could t be picked up by relief ship?, and others - were caught in the tire, 21 in all beinc lost. The insurance on the ship was , £2.000,000, of which £1.250.000 was ? held in the London market, but the i risk was spread over a large number 1 of underwriters, so that although the 2 loss was one of the biggest for years, - it was not likely seriously to incommode any individual firm. A dispute then arose between the underwriters and the owners. The French Government, which shared the insurances with Lloyd's, wanted the money for repairs to be kept in France, but Lloyds contended that the ship could be repaired in England for half the cost of the work in France. The French Government gained its point.]