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Day: 13 September 2016

One man dead, four others injured on cruise ship in Marseille

by: Cassandra Tanti
13/09/2016

Harmony of the Seas. Photo: Kees Torn
Harmony of the Seas. Photo: Kees Torn

One person has been killed and four others injured – two critically – after a lifeboat fell from the world’s biggest cruise liner, Harmony of the Seas, which was docked in the French port of Marseille on Tuesday morning.
According to La Provence, the local newspaper, five members of the ship’s navigation crew were on board when the lifeboat became detached.
The accident is understood to have taken place during a basic security drill.
“One person has died and four suffered multiple injuries with two in a critical condition and two seriously hurt but stable,” said a spokesman for Marseille’s marine emergency service. “The lifeboat became detached” from the boat owned by Royal Caribbean, an American company, said a police source.
Julien Ruas, of the Marseille marine services, said the lifeboat “fell 10 metres” with the five people inside. “All were members of the crew,” he said. The deceased was a 42- year-old man of Philippine nationality. At 1,188 feet from bow to stern, Harmony of the Seas is 125 feet longer than the height of the Eiffel Tower and one foot longer than the previous record-breaking cruise ships Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas. (Sources: Figaro, Daily Telegraph, La Provence)

Reassurance from reinsurance at the Fairmont

by: Cassandra Tanti
13/09/2016

Record 2,839 participants at Les Rendez-vous de Semtembre. Photo: Twitter RVS2016
Record 2,839 participants at Les Rendez-vous de Semtembre. Photo: Twitter RVS2016

Reinsurance firms meeting in Monaco this week at the 60th edition of Les Rendez-vous de Septembre believe that premiums will more or less stabilise in 2016 after five years of decline. The $600 billion reinsurance market is a backstop for insurers when faced with heavy claims for events such as natural disasters.
The annual gathering, the most important in the industry, always precedes the Monaco Yacht Show.
“The rate decreases have slowed down and we actually have seen a more flattish market,” Ulrich Wallin, chief executive of Hannover Re, told a media briefing. “Things look a little more optimistic than a year ago … (but) we are not expecting a broad-based hardening of the market as yet,” he added.
Ratings agencies, speaking last week, said premiums could fall by up to five percent in 2017, following similar price falls this year, which had hit returns. Reinsurers’ return on equity averaged 8.6 percent at the end of June, down from 10.3 percent at the end of 2015, ratings agency Moody’s said.
“The worst-hit reinsurers are likely to be smaller, less diversified and operating in markets where premiums have fallen to the point where they are barely covering the cost of capital,” Fitch said. “These firms may become acquisition targets as stresses leave them more likely to accept lower valuations.”
 

Professionals decry “shipwreck” of yachting industry

by: Cassandra Tanti
13/09/2016

Photo: Facebook ECPY
Photo: Facebook ECPY

The Committee of European Yachting Professionals (ECPY) and the organisation that manages the ports of Nice, Cannes, Villefranche and Golfe-Juan – CCI Nice Côte d’Azur – have joined in raising the alarm over a crisis in the yachting sector. Of most concern is the raising of taxes and fees and the reintroduction of rules and regulations that had fallen into disuse.
The economic and regulatory burden is now so heavy that yacht owners are considering moving their vessels to other Mediterranean jurisdictions, they say. The yachting sector has doubled in size over the last ten years and the prospects for further growth are excellent, but France risks losing a large part of the industry that helps support local economies.
French taxation as applied to the yachting sector is also very complex, the CCI says. The organisation is resorting to social media to get its message across and has launched a Linkedin group on “taxation for yachting” as well as producing a short explanatory film on the subject.

Red Bull Air Race champion dies in crash

by: Cassandra Tanti
13/09/2016

Hannes Arch. Photo: Paul Thompson
Hannes Arch. Photo: Paul Thompson

The founder of the Red Bull X-Alps adventure race, Hannes Arch, has been killed in a private helicopter accident in the Austrian mountains. Arch, just shy of 49, was a celebrity in his native Austria and a familiar face on billboards and on television. A noted BASE jumper, he once said: “I’m prepared to take risks, but I’m by no means a ‘risk-taker’.”
Recently Mr Arch, who began his professional career as an alpinist, earned a following of international fans as a successful pilot for the Red Bull Air Race world championship. “We will miss his warmth, sense of fun and boundless energy,” a Red Bull Air Race statement said.
The Red Bull X-Alps race, which takes place every two years, is a 1,000 kilometre race in which athletes must hike or paraglide across the Alps from Salzburg, Austria, through parts of Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France. The finish is in Monaco.
The exact route is normally unveiled in the spring before the race start. The first race was in 2003 and the next event is planned for 2017, with participants only allowed to either hike or fly. Teams consist of one athlete and one official supporter, whose role providing technical advice, mental and nutritional support is said to be almost as demanding. (Feature image: Phil Guest)

READ MORE: Melanie Astles, Red Bull Air Race’s first female pilot