State-controlled Russian National Reinsurance Company (RNRC) is now the main reinsurer of Russian ships, including Sovcomflot’s fleet, after Western insurance firms withdrew cover for Russian shipowners, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Insurance is essential for maritime transport, particularly oil cargoes that require the highest safety standards due to the risk of spills and shipping flammable material on the high seas. Before Western sanctions were imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”, insuring such cargoes relied on reinsurance from an international pool of companies offering broad coverage. Western insurers withdrew cover from state-run Sovcomflot (SCF) when Russia’s biggest shipping group was […]