Kenya News

FACTBOX: 25 Ships and Crews Still Held by Somali Pirates

Somali pirates have released the Marida Marguerite, a German-operated chemical tanker after receiving a $5.5 million ransom, the Kenya-based East African Seafarers Assistance Program said on Tuesday. The tanker was seized in May and released on Monday. Here are details …

Ratings Recap: Oil Casualty, Bison, East Africa Re, Kenya Re

A.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength rating of ‘A-’ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a-” to Bermuda-based Oil Casualty Insurance, Ltd (OCIL), both with stable outlooks. OCIL’s ratings “reflect its superior capitalization, balance sheet strength, generally profitable …

RatingsRounup: Allied World (Notes), ZEP-Re, Evergreen Re

A.M. Best Co. has assigned a debt rating of “bbb” to the recently issued $300 million 5.5 percent senior unsecured notes due 2020 of Bermuda-based Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, with a stable outlook. The proceeds from the debt offering …

ICC Maritime Bureau Warns of Expanding Pirate Attacks

Somali pirates appear to be intensifying their attacks away from their own coast and were responsible for 44 percent of the 289 piracy incidents on the world’s seas in the first nine months of 2010, according to a report published …

So. Korea Reports Somali Pirates Abduct 43 Sailors off Kenya

Somali pirates have hijacked a South Korean-operated fishing boat with 43 sailors, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday. Two South Korean, two Chinese and 39 Kenyans were aboard the 241-ton Kenya-registered trawler when it was attacked Oct. 9 in the waters …

ICC Survey Concludes Economy is Rebounding ‘at a Slower Pace’

The world economy continued its rebound from the worst recession in decades, according to the quarterly ICC/Ifo World Economic Survey released today, but at a slower pace. The survey concluded that “some regions, notably North America and Asia, saw slowing …

Why Economic, Market Risks of Ash Cloud Are Hard to Measure

Policymakers and markets trying to react to the volcanic gas cloud paralyzing air travel in Europe face a host of variables, unknowns and hard-to-measure risks that make modelling almost impossible. No one can accurately predict what the volcano — or …

Flights Resume in Parts of Europe

Flights from large parts of Europe are set to resume on Tuesday under a deal agreed by the European Union to free up airspace closed by a cloud of ash hurled into the sky by an Icelandic volcano. However, with …

If Ash Cloud Lingers, Economic Impact Could Rise Sharply

The economic impact of the volcanic cloud halting flights across Europe will increase sharply the longer disruption continues, forcing holiday cancellations, delaying deliveries and reducing jet fuel demand. African exporters of flowers and vegetables by air to European supermarkets, technology …

How Microinsurance Plans Extend Healthcare in Africa

Kenyan student Shadrack Silipo had a heart operation five years ago, the sort of surgery that often bankrupts families in Africa. Silipo’s parents normally would have paid by selling off land, the same green acres that form the inheritance for …