March 20 (Reuters) - Insurance giant Chubb said

on Friday its maritime insurance facility will now be available

to ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz where traffic has been

paralyzed due to the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran.

Chubb will be the lead partner on the U.S. International

Development Finance Corporation's $20 billion Maritime

Reinsurance ​Plan aimed at resuming commercial shipping in the

Gulf, the ‌agency said last week.

So far, there has ​been no let-up in hostilities and no sign

ships can safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz, where about

a fifth of the world's oil passes, ​raising the risk of the

worst disruption to energy supplies since the ​oil shocks of the

1970s.

However, Chubb said their facility will be available under

certain conditions, which they did not elaborate.

The wartime maritime facility will be available for hull and

liability as well as cargo, Chubb said, and coverage will be

offered for war hull risk insurance, for war protection and

indemnity (P&I) insurance and war cargo insurance.

Maritime insurance covers ships and cargo against risks such

as ‌accidents, ⁠piracy or conflict, with shipowners paying

premiums that rise as insurers assess the likelihood of losses.

War-risk coverage is typically excluded from standard

policies and must be purchased separately, often at sharply

higher premiums for vessels sailing through ​conflict zones.

Without such coverage, ships and cargo worth hundreds of

millions of dollars would be exposed to losses from attacks or

seizures, leaving owners and financiers vulnerable and

discouraging vessels from transiting those waters.

Additional American insurance companies for the facility

will be detailed in the coming days, Chubb said.

(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika

Syamnath)