The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Most boats were uninsured when tsunami struck

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 07, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Most boats were uninsured when tsunami struck

By Karthik Subramanian

CHENNAI, JAN. 6. Almost all the mechanised boats damaged by the December 26 tsunami at the Royapuram fishing harbour were not insured, despite public and private sector insurance companies offering marine insurance.

A clear indication of this is comes from a public sector insurance company, which has so far received only three claims for damages from Royapuram harbour.

Boat owners say the annual premium — around 7.5 per cent of the asset — is simply not affordable, especially with the spiralling diesel prices. They alleged that the insurance companies were not coming forward to offer "total loss" insurance at 3.5 per cent. (In case of "total loss," claims can be made only if the vessel is completely destroyed.)

Though the Government has exempted them from sales tax for diesel, boat owners are demanding customs and excise exemptions too. "Only if diesel is available at around Rs.15 a litre will we be able to afford insurance," they say.

Royapuram harbour in North Chennai has more than 650 mechanised boats, including 560 licensed boats from Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kanchipuram districts. Boat prices vary from Rs.8 lakhs to Rs.15 lakhs, depending on the size of the hull and the kind of net it carries.

The local boat owners' association has estimated losses in excess of Rs.15 crores and like the rest of the fishing community, it is looking to the government to bail them out. None of the boats has entered the seas since the tragedy.

According to J. Venugopal, president of the association, 80 boats have suffered complete damage while several others were partially damaged.

The association will be presenting the State Government an estimate of the damage tomorrow.

A lottery

K. Kuppan, who owns five boats, said that for every trip he spends Rs.65,000 on diesel, Rs.7,000 on ice, Rs.2,500 on rations for the crew and Rs.2,000 on lube oil.

"A trip can last up to a week and there will at least be nine persons on board. With the catch drying up in the waters near our State, the crew sometimes take the boat upto Machillipattinam and Kakinada on the Andhra Pradesh coast.

"This can be problematic because of the fights with the Andhra fishermen," he said. "Every trip is like a lottery to us."

A senior official at the divisional office of United India Insurance said the number of boat owners taking out insurance has reduced over the last three years.

"Four years ago, we used to receive up to Rs.40 lakhs every year as premium. But today, we get only around Rs. 4 lakhs from the boat owners in Royapuram harbour," he added.

He said that the fishermen here were reluctant to stay away from the seas during the monsoon. "It increases the risk factor and hence the high premium. We even asked the association to form a group and offered to reduce the premium if the association shares responsibility."

In all likelihood, the government is likely to finance repair of the boats and revival of the fishing sector. It remains to be seen if the government will insist upon boat owners taking out insurance.

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