Staged loss / scuttling
9 cases in 17 countries, 1977–2019. Most cases: United Kingdom (4), Greece (3), United States (2), Indonesia (1), Oman (1).
Indonesia's Nusantara capital faces funding gap as Jakarta keeps sinking
Indonesia's new capital was costed at about 466 trillion rupiah, with 80 percent expected from private investment; by the end of 2024 private investment had reached 58.4 trillion rupiah against a 100 trillion target. North Jakarta keeps sinking as groundwater is pumped.
Atlantik Confidence deliberate sinking (Oman)
A bulk carrier carrying steel caught fire and sank off Oman in April 2013. An English court found in 2016 that it had been sunk deliberately at the request of the person it described as the owners' alter ego; the hull underwriters, who had paid US$22 million, then sued to recover the money.
Brillante Virtuoso tanker
A tanker was set on fire off Aden in 2011 in what was presented as a pirate attack. A London court found in 2019 that the owner had deliberately caused the loss; the surveyor who inspected the ship was killed by a car bomb.
Alexander II fishing boat sinking attempt
In August 2009 the owner of a fishing boat arranged for its crew to flood and sink it off New Jersey. The attempt failed and the Coast Guard rescued the crew. The insurer denied the owner's US$400,000 claim. The owner and three others pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison in 2012 and 2013.
Grecia Express ferry scuttling (Greece)
The ferry Grecia Express sank at Aegion in the Gulf of Corinth in 1994. The insurer alleged that the owner scuttled her; an English court found the owner not complicit and ordered US$9.9m, including anti-pollution expenses.
Rigel scuttling (Calabria)
The cargo ship Rigel sank off Calabria in 1987 after sailing with a declared cargo of marble. A La Spezia court accepted that the sinking was deliberate and an insurance fraud; the real cargo was never established and a suspicion of toxic or radioactive waste was never tested because the wreck was not found.
Ikarian Reefer fire (Sierra Leone)
A refrigerated cargo ship ran aground off Sierra Leone in 1985 and then caught fire. Underwriters refused a claim of about US$3 million, alleging the fire was set with the owners' connivance; the Court of Appeal found in 1995 that the fire was deliberate.
Salem tanker
A supertanker sank off West Africa in January 1980. Most of its cargo had already been sold in Durban, and Lloyd's cargo insurers refused to pay for it.
Lucona sinking (Indian Ocean)
In January 1977 a time bomb sank the cargo ship Lucona in the Indian Ocean; six of the twelve people aboard died. Udo Proksch, who had declared and insured the cargo, was later convicted of six murders and fraud.