LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - The collapse of Baltimore's

Francis Scott Key Bridge is likely to lead to a multi-billion

dollar insurance loss, the chairperson of commercial insurance

market Lloyd's of London said on Thursday.

The massive Singapore-flagged container ship Dali sailing

out of Baltimore Harbor bound for Sri Lanka reported losing

power and the ability to maneuver before plowing into a support

pylon of the bridge on Tuesday.

The impact brought most of the bridge tumbling into the

mouth of the Patapsco River, blocking shipping lanes and forcing

the indefinite closure of the Port of Baltimore, one of the

busiest on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.

The tragedy could lead to up to $4 billion in insurance

claims, Morningstar DBRS said.

It was too soon to put a figure on the total insurance loss,

Bruce Carnegie-Brown told Reuters, but he said he would be "very

surprised" if the event did not result in a multi-billion dollar

loss, adding that "the tragedy has the capacity to become the

largest single marine insurance loss ever".

The previous record marine loss was from the Costa Concordia

luxury cruise liner disaster in 2012.

Lloyd's, which has more than 50 member firms, is active in

the marine and property insurance markets, which are expected to

face large claims from the damage to the bridge and the

disruption at the port.

Lloyd's had gross written premiums in 2022 of more than 6

billion pounds ($7.5 billion) in marine, aviation and transport

insurance and reinsurance. North America is its largest market.

Carnegie-Brown also said the insurer has set aside 1.6

billion pounds ($2 billion) in reserves in the past two years

for disputed aviation claims over planes stuck in Russia

following its invasion of Ukraine.

Talks between aviation leasing companies and insurers to

reach settlements over the multi-billion dollar claims were at a

"reasonably advanced stage", Carnegie-Brown said, ahead of major

court cases in Dublin and London due to take place this year.

Lloyd's reported a 2023 pre-tax profit of 10.7 billion

pounds ($13.49 billion) earlier on Thursday, boosted by strong

underwriting and investment performance.