Letter: Safety at sea

sir: Arlen Harris and Jason Bennetto have a strong story to tell about 'Safety warnings over cargo ship defects 'ignored' ' (24 July): amply confirmed by John Newman in his letter of 27 July. The Cullen Report on the Piper Alpha oil installation disaster showed how trouble of this kind - taking appalling risks at sea - is widespread even near to home, and in a far more modern industry than shipping.

Something that tends not to be examined is the role of the Protection and Indemnity Clubs (the mutual assurance societies), and of the insurers and reinsurers in all this. If the reinsurers - most of whom are based in this country - refused (or were required by Government to refuse) to provide cover for the insurers of unlawfully bad (or unlawfully badly managed) ships or offshore installations, the appalling risks would not go on being taken and today's problems would begin to solve themselves. Ports would not accept uninsured ships or allow the servicing of unsafe installations; freighting companies would not put their cargoes at uninsured risk; P and I Clubs and classification societies and insurance companies would all mend their ways.

Lloyd's 'names' might even be able to go to sleep again.

Yours faithfully,

ELIZABETH YOUNG

London, W2