Insurance industry outlays for the sinking of Carnival Corp's Costa Concordia cruise ship off the Tuscan coast of Italy on January 13 could reach $1bn, with the bulk of the burden going to reinsurers, Moody's Investors Service has said. Around half of the total will cover damage to the ship, with the balance going toward personal injuries, liability and environmental losses, Moody's said. "The earnings drag from this loss event will impede capital growth for affected firms and contribute to the perception among investors that the reinsurance sector cannot earn its cost of capital", Moody's said. Environmental losses will be lessened in the event that the ship's 2,385 metric tonnes of fuel oil and lubricants are successfully removed by Royal Boskalis Westminster's Smit Salvage unit, which has begun preparations for pumping out the fuel. The sinking has left 15 people dead and more than 20 still missing out of the vessel's total 4,200 passengers and crew. Meanwhile, Hannover Re has estimated that it will face a bill of about €30m ($39m) as a result of the disaster, which qualifies as a major loss. It accepted that liability claims were had to assess at the moment. RSA Insurance was reported to have a 5% line on the hull and machinery contract, valued at about €405m. Other carriers on the panel are said to include Hannover Re, XL, Allianz Global C&S, Axa, Generali and Chartis. There are thought to be about 28 carriers in total. Insurance Day noted that the two P&I clubs covering the vessel – Standard Club and Steamship – were likely to have little retained premium to cover the loss. The next layer of P&I loss – to $30m – is with the International Group pool. The three other P&I clubs that insure cruise liners – Gard, Skuld and UK Club – were likely to see their cost of cover rise within that pool. The next level sees all P&I insurers suffer through the impact on captive insurer Hydra. Finally there is the $3.06bn excess of loss layer for which Catlin was the lead insurer and Miller was the broker.