A spokesperson of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development says that a new insurance scheme will be introduced to pay for partial and full damages sustained by fishing boats. Its Director-General Prasanna Janaka Kumara said that the existing insurance scheme does not pay for partial damages sustained by vessels. However, when a fishing vessel is partially damaged by an accident or due to technical difficulties it is expensive to bring it back to shores. Director General added that the decision to introduce a new insurance scheme was taken after taking this into consideration. He further noted that discussions have already been held with several insurance companies regarding this.