16. Lloyd’s built a worldwide communications network to keep abreast of shipping news
Because the news of ship sailings and arrivals was such a critical part of its business Lloyd’s created a network of communications stations to keep underwriters, brokers, and investors up-to-date regarding their interests. A signal station located in Nova Scotia at Cape Race was Lloyd’s station, the first to hear the news of Titanic sinking, as broadcast by the ship (“…sinking hard by the bow”), on the night of April 14-15, 1912. While other news services and newspapers were fed and further promulgated confused reports, with many claiming the ship was proceeding to New York, Lloyd’s was aware of the ship’s loss.
Both Titanic and its sister Olympic had been underwritten by Lloyd’s, through Willis Faber & Company, with the beneficiary the ships’ owner and operator, White Star Lines. The ship’s hull had been covered for £1 million, and several of Lloyd’s’ syndicates had taken part of the risk. Additional risks regarding passengers, loss of revenue, crew, and company equipment, were covered. Before the survivors reached New York aboard Carpathia and other rescue ships Lloyd’s was working to honor the policy. White Star’s claims were paid within a month of the loss of the ship, one of the largest disasters ever paid by the company.