The Bermuda insurance market has been heavily involved in organising cover for New York's new World Trade Center.

Ace USA, Aspen, Allied World and XL Insurance have all been involved in writing insurance policies for the new WTC to replace the Twin Towers that fell to a terrorist attack in September 2001.

Yesterday, WTC developer Larry Silverstein announced the placement of the workers compensation, general liability, excess liability, and specialty insurance programmes for the construction of Towers 2, 3, and 4 on Greenwich Street.

The insurance programmes were readied in anticipation of the recent turnover to Silverstein by the WTC site's owner, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, of the sites for Towers 3 and 4 to Silverstein Properties. By mid-year, the site for Tower 2 is expected to be delivered. Since 2006, the Port Authority has been preparing the sites located on the "east bathtub". This activity involved months of excavation work and building of a new 80-foot-deep slurry wall.

The three office towers, developed by Silverstein Properties and designed by world-renowned Pritzker-prize winning architects Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, and Fumihiko Maki, will rise along the site's eastern edge. As the first construction-related liability insurance programmes secured for the three towers, they cover the contractors' employees on the site and the liability exposure resulting from construction.

Since last April, the WTC insurance team engaged over 60 insurance markets in the United States, London and Bermuda. The team developed a comprehensive and open approach to informing prospective insurers about this world-renowned project. The marketing effort was actively supported by Joe Plumeri, Chairman and CEO of Willis.

"We are very proud to partner with Silverstein Properties on this momentous project," said Mr. Plumeri. "As a company that has had a headquarters in Lower Manhattan since 1956, we will witness first hand this historic endeavour."

The WTC insurance team included more than 40 technical experts and placement professionals from Willis, led by Leslie Nylund and Silverstein's WTC executives led by Shari Natovitz, Silverstein's risk manager.

The WTC insurance programme responds to the specifications of the Port Authority as one of the requirements for site turnover.

AIG Group has provided the controlled insurance programme, which consists of workers' compensation and general liability. The programme also includes extensive safety and loss control resources, as well as a tailored claims management program to assist workers. AIG has also been selected to underwrite environmental liability insurance for the project.

Beazley Syndicate (Lloyd's of London) is providing specialised protection. The excess liability programme is led by Bermuda-based Ace's subsidiary Ace USA and features many of the world's leading insurers - including Bermuda's Aspen, Allied World and XL Insurance.

"This is a significant step in our efforts to build these three buildings," said Mr. Silverstein. "The insurance industry has an historic connection to lower Manhattan, and our renewed partnership with the industry is key to the entire rebuilding effort."

The policy terms for all placements cover the entire period of construction. Additional placements will continue through June of 2008 when the builders' risk (property under construction) insurance programmes begin.

In anticipation of an early 2008 construction start for Towers 3 and 4, Silverstein Properties has already awarded contracts for foundation work, and several more packages of work have been issued to the market seeking bidders. By next month, it is expected that contracts will have been awarded for several billion dollars worth of construction.

Towers 2, 3, and 4 have been designed to integrate with what will be newly-created pedestrian thoroughfares along the reconnected grid at Cortlandt and Dey Streets, the Memorial, WTC Transportation Hub, which is located between the towers at 200 and 175 Greenwich, and the rest of the Downtown community.