Pakistan Reinsurance Company Limited (PRCL) clinches the just insuring of the first ever national communication Satellite of the country PAKSAT-1R with NICL and SUPARCO.
It may be mentioned here that PAKSAT-1R Satellite is a joint communication project of US Dollars 200 Million with a life span of 15 years in space.
The Satellite was initially launched from Xi Chang Satellite Launch Centre of China at 21:15 (PST) on 11 Aug, 2011. At that time, the insurance was handled and dealt with the support of the Chinese market and was placed at a rate of about 14.1% due to having its central contract with CGWIC.
Consequently, after the successful launch, the control was handed over to SUPARCO with two main ground control stations in Pakistan; main station is located at Lahore and backup station at Karachi. Again these two stations are interlinked through optic fibre and satellite links with a ground station in Beijing, which is monitoring the real time communication of satellite operations and control related data.
This year as the control has been shifted to SUPARCO and accordingly, the insurance needs are proceeded through NICL/PRCL, which after intensive deliberations in the international market, has succeeded to clinch the risk at a very competitive and economic rate of 1.260081% with the agreed value of USD 190 Million which, is by itself, a new record for the space industry and would be used as a benchmark for all other future satellites to be insured.
As PRCL is the sole reinsurer company in Pakistan, it succeeded through transparent codal formalities to get the Pak-China PAKSAT-1R joint Satellite project insured through Marsh Reinsurance Company effective 11th August, 2012.
In order to promote aerospace science, PRCL has decided to promote space insurance and now has an independent “Aviation and Aerospace Department” in its fold.
