INSURANCE for boats sailing into Lebanese and Israeli ports has soared by as much as 2,000 per cent after a weekend of Israeli airstrikes on its neighbour’s transport hubs.

Insurers have also stopped selling war cover to businesses in both countries as the conflict between Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinians threatens to engulf Syria and Iran. Sir Roger Tomkys, the chairman of the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce, said that the violence was damaging wider British economic relations within the area.

There are several large European companies with operations in Lebanon, including Coutts, the private bank, Cluttons, the estate agency, Tetrapak, the packaging group, and the Cambridge University Press, the chamber said.

Adrian Lewers, a political risk underwriter at Beazley Group, the London insurer, said: “We’re not currently offering cover for physical damage caused by war because it’s too late — the horse has bolted. I think you’ll find that a lot of people are inadequately covered.”

Tim Turner, a marine hull war underwriter at Beazley, said that the cost of insurance for ships travelling to Lebanon and Israel was changing by the day as the situation unfolded.

“We perceive the risk to vessels of being hit by missiles to be much greater and we’re charging much more because of that,” Mr Turner said.

Shipowners typically pay a flat rate for 12 months of hull cover, but must pay additional sums each time they enter an “area of perceived risk”, as determined by Lloyd’s of London’s war risk committee. Cargo is covered under a separate policy.

Ports in Israel and Lebanon have been on the committee’s list of areas of perceived risk for some time, but the cost of entering them has risen sharply in recent days.

A shipowner would typically pay 0.025 per cent of the value of the vessel for cover for a single entry, which is usually valid for a seven-day visit.

Mr Turner said that the cost of cover was now likely to be more than 0.5 per cent — a 2,000 per cent increase.

“A ship can be worth anything from £1 million to £150 million, with a nice commercial vessel coming in around £30 million,” he said. “That’s £150,000 for one visit.”

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