Focus Live: Fletcher Building boss confirms fire started where blowtorches were being used on bitumen
A global insurance broker which was also in charge of securing the insurance for the fateful Titanic, is advising on the claim for damage caused by a fire at SkyCity's international convention centre.
The New Zealand arm of NASDAQ-listed Willis Towers Watson is the broker and the Herald understands its chief executive Peter Lowe has met with the insurance under-writers for SkyCity this afternoon.
SkyCity Entertainment Group has declined to name its insurer but says it's an international company and that the consequences of the fire in the roof of the new convention centre and the disruption to its existing facilities will be fully covered.
Chief executive Graeme Stephens told journalists he isn't sure he can disclose the insurer's name.
"We're comfortable with the credibility of the insurer and their ability to meet their obligations," Stephens said.
Still from time-lapse footage of the fire at the SkyCity Convention Centre construction site. Photo / Niwa
An insurance broking source told the Herald the insurance risk was likely to be underwritten by more than one company and possibly up to three because of the size of it.
Earlier today, both Fletcher chief executive Ross Taylor and Stephens rejected a suggestion that their insurance contracts could be nullified if the fire is proven to have been caused by negligence.
Stephens says assessing the new hotel from the street, it is "largely intact" and doesn't appear to have been damaged, and it won't have suffered water damage, but it probably has suffered smoke damage.
Fletcher Building chief executive Ross Taylor. Photo / File
Taylor confirmed that workmen on the site had been using blowtorches to seal bitumen used in the convention centre's roof but cautioned against speculating on the fire's cause because "speculation or word on the street can be very, very wrong."
It has been reported that a worker had left a blowtorch to go for break and that started the fire.
Taylor said Fletcher will be conducting a full investigation once it regains access to the site. The fire is still burning but Stephens says he hopes it will be extinguished today.
