CREW ABANDONS BRITISH-OWNED SHIP ATTACKED BY HOUTHIS; INSURANCE PREMIUMS WILL SKYROCKET, TBML LAUNDRYMEN ONLY BENEFIT FROM THE SITUATION

The Belize-registered and British-owned freighter RUBYMAR, hit by two Houthi missiles this week, was abandoned by its crew of twenty, after it began listing, and was in danger of sinking. The ship was en route from the UAE to Bulgaria.  You can expect UK maritime insurers to increase premiums manyfold, although some will try to take advantage of the situation by minimizing their additional charges, hpibg to garner the lion's share of the lucrative maritime business sector, leaving a total lack of uniformity in rates.

The results will be yet another opportunity for TBML laundrymen to take full advantage of the confusion, either by planting bogus insurance and risk fees into legitimate trade payments, or actually operating shell insurance companies themselves, purporting to serve the shipping industry, while all the time  moving the proceeds of crime swiftly and successfully through the world's banks. Compliance officers will be unable to determine the bona fides of the insurance chaos, and in the pressure of time to approve payments during transaction monitoring, let the dirty money through.

Unless and until the US & UK destroy the Houthis' ability to attack shipping bound for Europe, the TBML laundryman will continue to flourish, at the cost of the global financial structure, who will most likely be subject to civil fines and penalties for their failures, brought by regulators from the same nations that have not yet effectively terminated the ongoing threats. the next thing we see will most likely be the death of  crew members on targeted vessels in the Red Sea. Whether compliance officers lose their jobs is also a possibility after fines are levied. Clearly, an untenable situation.