Nord Stream's £350m claim denied: Insurers cite war exclusion

Insurers of the Nord Stream pipelines claim their policies do not cover damages caused by explosions in 2022, stating that the damages resulted from war. The insurance companies made their case in response to a lawsuit filed in the High Court of London, where Nord Stream seeks compensation exceeding 350 million pounds.

Nord Stream is demanding over 350 million pounds from its insurers due to explosions that damaged the pipelines transporting Russian gas to Germany, as reported by the Reuters Agency. The lawsuit names Lloyd's Insurance Company and Arch Insurance among the defendants.

The insurers maintain that the Nord Stream policy does not cover damages "directly or indirectly" resulting from war, military actions, or the detonation of explosives, as reported first by the Russian independent newspaper "Kommersant" on Thursday. Their reply letter to the lawsuit is dated April 8th. Furthermore, the insurers argued that the policy excludes coverage for any damages that arose due to "any government order".

Sweden and Germany's investigations in 2022 found traces of explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, indicating that the damages were the result of deliberate actions.

Swedish seismologists recorded several explosions near the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines in the autumn of 2022. These incidents caused approximately 800 million cubic metres of gas to leak from the pipelines, and it took several days to halt the leakage.