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UK court rejects Nord Stream AG bid for $662 million insurance payout
The ruling applies the war-risk exclusion and also rejected Nord Stream AG’s claim that anchor damage, not explosives, caused the separate pipeline section harm.
A UK High Court ruling has ended Nord Stream AG’s effort to recover $662 million in insurance claims tied to the September 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, with the judge finding the loss fell under a standard war-risk exclusion.
The court also rejected Nord Stream AG’s argument that separate damage to one section of the pipeline was caused by a ship’s anchor rather than explosives, and the decision relieves insurers including Lloyd’s and Arch of liability.
The ruling sets a legal precedent for energy infrastructure insurance, indicating that sabotage connected to interstate conflict may be excluded even when attacks occur away from active battlefields.
The article says the decision removes any realistic path to restoring the Nord Stream system, which previously carried up to 55 bcm of Russian gas annually to Germany, reinforcing Europe’s post-2022 shift away from Russian pipeline supplies.