BURNED FRENCH LINER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21498, 23 May 1933, Page 9

BURNED FRENCH LINER

ACTION BY UNDERWRITERS CLAIM FOR £1,125,000 PARIS, May |r2l English, French and Spanish underwriters who insured the cargo of the Georges Philippar, the French liner that was destroyed by fire in the Gulf of Aden in May, 1932, have started an action for £1,125,000 against the Messageries Maritimes in the French Courts. The decision follows the underwriters' receipt of official findings cf the cause of the disaster, which, it is understood, contain disquieting evidence. The ordinary insurances on the Georges Philippar amounted to 82,000,000 francs, while a sum of 33,000,000 francs was effected to cover the risk of total loss only. Iu the event of the total destruction of the vessel by fire, the liabilities of underwriters in respect of the ship alone would amount to 115,000,000 francs, or about £1,250,000 at the then current rate of exchange. A proportion of the loss fell on French insurance companies, but the greater part of the insurance was placed with leading British companies through their agents in Paris, or throughout the London market by brokers.