The West of England P&I Club has launched a piracy insurance policy for shipowners just as there appears to be a resurgence of hijacking attempts off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.

The policy will cover shipowners in an area identified as at risk from piracy attacks, known as a war and piracy breach area.

It is designed to include issues that are not covered by typical war risk policies, including ransoms, loss of ransom in transit, the cost of specialist response consultants and legal experts, and loss of hire, even for a few hours.