UK drivers struggle to get insurance for Chinese EVs such as Jaecoo

UK insurers are more hesitant to cover some hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) from China than cars from other countries, research suggests. While some drivers can save money by buying cars made in China, they may have more limited options to get insurance than those buying electric, hybrid and petrol cars from Europe, the US and South Korea. And when policies are available, they can sometimes cost almost twice as much as those for similar petrol vehicles from outside China. Chinese brands such as BYD, XPeng and Jaecoo have become…

Red Sea Attacks Leave Shipping Companies With Difficult Choices

The shipping companies that move goods on one of the world’s busiest trade routes for factories, stores, car dealerships and other businesses face an excruciating decision. They can send their vessels through the Red Sea if they are willing to risk attacks by the Houthi militia in Yemen and to bear the cost of sharply higher insurance premiums. Or they can sail an extra 4,000 miles around Africa, adding 10 days in each direction and burning considerably more fuel. Neither option is appealing and both raise costs — expenses that…

Fake Signals and American Insurance: How a Dark Fleet Moves Russian Oil

The Cathay Phoenix is not a lone rogue ship, but one of at least three tankers identified by The New York Times taking extraordinary steps to hide their true activity, a practice that helps them to elude U.S. government oversight and puts their American insurer at risk of violating recent sanctions on Russian crude oil. For years, ships wanting to hide their whereabouts have resorted to turning off the transponders all large vessels use to signal their location. But the tankers tracked by The Times go beyond this, using cutting-edge…