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Conflict between businesses and insurance companies concerning responsibility for damages from the 4 August Beirut port explosion has erupted into the open, pushing a major trade chamber to engage a complaint handling specialist to negotiate between the two sides.

The only obstacle to paying all the insurance claims resulting from the unfortunate 4 August blast at the Beirut port is that there has been no release yet of the report on the investigation into the explosion

Insured losses from the Beirut port warehouse explosion are likely to total around $3 billion, similar to those from an explosion at the Chinese port of Tianjin in 2015, industry sources and analysts say.

The devastating explosion at the Beirut’s port on Tuesday, Aug. 4 caused many casualties and considerable damage, but local insurance penetration rates in Lebanon generally are low, said AM Best in a market commentary.

German reinsurer Hannover Re SE on Wednesday said it will see a “major loss” from the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, as it reported net income fell 39.3% to €402 million ($478 million) for the first half of the year.

A group of Lebanese and other Arab investors have made a bid to purchase no less than 67% of Arabia Insurance, according to a letter sent to shareholders of the company last week.