This is another example of how Vero Marine works alongside our clients during a major claim.

New Zealand Dairy Goats Co-operative (NZ) Ltd. is a specialist exporter of NZ milk powder products. The Royal & SunAlliance Group has provided insurance for this company for some years, initially through the New Zealand Dairy Board's insurances. Vero Marine became directly responsible for the account in July 2000.



A mountainous island of 23 million people, Taiwan is one of the most densely populated places in the world. The country was hit hard by a slew of typhoons in 2001, including, in mid September 2001, Typhoon Nari.

Typhoon Nari left 93 dead and 10 people missing and caused more than T$2.91 billion (US$84 million) in just farm losses. Nari had hovered off the Taiwan coast for more than a week, picking up record amounts of rain and turning roads in Taipei into torrents of water that flowed past second-storey windows in the capital's worst-ever flooding. The government launched a big clean-up, mobilising thousands of soldiers and workers to pump floodwaters out of subway stations and apartment basements, and remove thousands of tons of debris.

NZ Dairy Goats exported eleven containers on the "Nicoline Maersk" v0118 to a major Taiwanese customer. After unloading at Kaohsiung Harbour on the 11th of September, the containers were located at the Da-Yue container terminal.

During the typhoon, the container terminal was flooded to depths up to two metres. There was a considerable amount of confusion as to the location of the containers after the storm. Eight of the containers were reported to have been swept down the river, and it was only later that this figure was revised.

The following photographs show the destruction caused by the flood waters:

This photograph was taken downstream from the container terminal. The white deposits in the water, in the bottom right of the photograph below, are tins of milk powder from containers that were destroyed in the flood:



The height of the flood waters is shown by tins of milk powder on the bridge as well as below:





One of our lost containers, now located:



Of the containers that weren't swept away, many were flooded. This shows the amount of silt that flooded into the containers that were stacked on the ground. (The photograph has been partially blurred to hide the labelling of the cartons):



Vero Marine worked closely with NZ Dairy Goats senior management. There were no local facilities in Taiwan where the cartons could be assessed and product sorted. A decision was quickly reached to re-stow and ship the containers back to New Zealand. The containers were opened in Mount Maunganui on the 15th November.

Through teamwork, considerable salvage was achieved, but the claim for Vero Marine was still in the region of NZ$1,400,000. Vero Marine paid progress payments throughout the claim as the loss was quantified - for example, the insured value of the containers lost in the flood was paid immediately.

Photographs are from the survey reports, by GAB Robins in Taiwan.

Click on the links below for previous Photo Features



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