New-York tribune., 1921-11-13
Insurance Rate
(auedHandicap
TO Board Ships
Extra Charges Placed Upon
Eover1lnsent-B Built Vessels;
Government Action Is
Asked to End Difficulty
Fleet at a Disadvantage
Marine Brokers Insist Rates
Are Not Based on Accurate
Tables With Loss Figures

(xrxoes carried by American COM
,ssses on vessels constructed by the
Shipping Board are subject to an iu-
suraaes rate that in some instances is
ioable that on shipments handled On
pvivately-owned steamers. Inquiries
among marine Insurance conananies
saov that while this discrimination
ass been practiced for more than a
vesy. no step has been taken by the
board to deal with the situation. The
set-rssuit is that an exporter or i'm
pof*ev is inclined 10 send his goods
On Foreign or private American ships.
The schedules of a number of marine
underwriters quote fat rate addahie
10 shipments on government vessels.
regardless Of the operator, trade or
nssare OF the cargo. In several cases
mis- IS s. fixed charge of 10 cents for
each $le0 valuation In others there
IS q discrimination of Il to 3 per
cent against governnsRt-bu tonnage.
Hhen asked why the additional charge
IS ifade some underwriters say that the
crater than upon other classes of
ships. They admit, however. that the
1andicap is based wholly on an esti-
nate. and cannot be supported scien-
..itally by tables showing loss ratios
apparently the discrimination is
sastd upon unfortunate experiences of
more than year ago. when many I'M
sried ships were in the hands of in
sxperienccd operators. The fact that
:ha Shipping Board now has with
irswn all but the best vessels, and has
eliminated approximately three-fourths
Of ITS operators, including the most
iasficient, has. not changed the situa-
t:oh. In exceptional cases a large
shipper, whose goodwill the insurance
companies desire TO retain. has been
able to get Kate on. a Shipping Board
ye&el equal TO that on one Of the best
out this is far from the rule
! Determined by Operator
Il is claimed by underwriters that
shA insurance in each instance is de-
.erfnined by the character sof the op-
era{or, Of the vessel and OF the trade,
and that such ships as the new 535-
loot combination cargo and passenger
veSEels obtain the lowest rate
Several days ago the Shipping Board
asked quotations from eighteen under
writer's on a shipments o. silk from the
ORIENT to- the. Pacific Coast an one Of
the new sass. More tfran half of them
quoted rates in excess of that which
could have been obtained On q foreign
or private Anne ricansyessel.
No reason was given for the. excess
charge, except the general Assuznpticn,
that sthc hazard on d government e ves-s
ssl rs greater.
Insurance brokers, who stand be-
tween the shippers and the under
writer's, say there is no discrimination
against government vessels that is nc1
supported by facts. For business rea-
song they do not like 20 come out in
the open and be quoted.
Said one broker yesterday:
"Shirning Board vessels when first
operated were an unknown quantity.
tnaer~riters have the practice Of
charging higher rates on vessels not
recognized by them as coming well
within the regular liner class, which
comprises ships owned by an expert
enced company in an established trade
with regular services between certain
ports. This does not include vessels
enatsSleu On t11ls OASIS OF Tor one
voyage The class, approved regular
line ships IS the basis used by in
surance companies for trading in the
event the steamer does not compare
fayborsbly with ships on which they
are willing to quote minimum rates.
As matter of fact no statistics on
the comparative losses of regular lin
ers and Shipping Board vessels exist,
EXCEPT in very limited form So that
while the increased rates are charged
upon vessels believed to be inferior to
theEso-called regular liners, the addiy
sioHEi charges are not the result of ex-
aes5 knowledge, but merely general