TRANSPORT: Ransom risk cover gets costlier.

from BUSINESS LINE, October 27, 2008 The spurt in piracy off Somalia has brought into focus how helpless shipowners and crew can be as some international sea trade lanes become dangerous. According to an IMB report, there are 11 ships with more than 200 crew members under detention in Somali waters. Earlier, the danger zone was Malacca Strait. However, piracy in the strait was curbed through military intervention by Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. In any such activity there will always be major problems of physical damage and loss of life at some point. But as pirates are getting greedier and taking greater risks, the ransoms they are asking are running too high. As reports …