Ukraine attack on Kerch Bridge to have limited impact on Black Sea marine war rates, sources say

By Michael Jones

June 6 - (The Insurer) - A Ukrainian attack this week on the road and rail bridge linking Russia and the Crimean Peninsula is unlikely to concern marine underwriters or shipping and will not mean a rise in Black Sea marine war risk rates, two senior sources told The Insurer.

Ukraine's SBU security service said on Tuesday that it had hit the Kerch Bridge below the water level with 1,100 kilograms of explosives that were detonated early in the morning and damaged underwater pillars of the bridge, a key supply route for Russian forces in Ukraine in the past.

The official Russian outlet which provides regular status updates on the bridge said its operation had been suspended for about three hours between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. local time (between 0100 and 0400 GMT). It gave no reason for the temporary closure, but said the bridge had been reopened and was functioning as normal.

"There remains limited maritime traffic north of the Kerch bridge as an overall proportion of Russian transits," Munro Anderson, director of marine operations at Vessel Protect, told The Insurer, adding that Ukraine's strategy was to hit Russian infrastructure rather than seeking to target commercial maritime interests.

Another senior war risk underwriting source said that the principal risk remains for transits through waters off Ukrainian-controlled territory, particularly the ports and waters of Odessa Oblast.