Marine Insurance News

Maritime insurance specialist The Swedish Club reports that it registered claims exceeding $25million attributable to heavy weather over the past five years. In response, it has developed a Heavy Weather Alert tool as an addition to its existing loss prevention tool.Heavy weather can cause structural damage, shifted cargo, broken mooring lines, wet damage, lost cargo overboard, and more. The Club says it has also seen examples where vessels have failed to suspend cargo operations and depart port in a timely manner when severe weather is approaching…

The International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) presented its analysis of the latest marine insurance market trends at its 150th annual conference in Berlin, Germany, on Monday.The global marine insurance premium base for 2023 was reported as $38.9 billion representing an uplift of 5.9% from the previous year. Development was seen across all lines of business with the offshore energy sector experiencing a 4.6% increase, cargo insurance a 6.2% increase and ocean hull a 7.6%…

Marine insurers and legal practitioners are grappling with unresolved challenges even two years after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. The conflict had brought chaos “not only in the lives of those in the region, but for the maritime industry trying to make sense of the shock,” said Burkhard Fischer, 2023-24 chairman of the Association of Average Adjusters, in his address to the body’s annual conference in London on May 9, 2024.Headlining his talk When War Risk becomes War Reality…

Ann Waite has been elected to chair the Association of Average Adjusters for the year 2024-25. She is the first woman to hold the office in the history of the association, which was founded in 1869.At the annual general meeting of Fellows on May 8, 2024, Waite was also elected an Honorary Fellow of the Association, which she has served as secretary for 11 years.She succeeds Burkhard Fischer, a director of Albatross Adjusters, Limassol.Waite runs a London-based independent claims management company…

The London P&I Club said that Ian Gooch will be stepping down during the year from the role of CEO after 15 years as CEO and 21 years as a Director of A.Bilbrough & Co., the company that manages The London P&I Club.Subject to regulatory approval, Ian Gooch will be succeeded by James Bean, from NorthStandard P&I Club.A qualified Solicitor, Bean has worked within the marine insurance industry since 2005 and was appointed to the NorthStandard’s senior leadership team in February 2023. Prior to that he was the Group Managing Director at the Standard Club.

Russia's state-owned reinsurer has given financial backing to three Russian insurance firms, allowing them to get Indian approval to provide marine insurance cover to tankers, two sources said, as Moscow seeks to facilitate trade with India amid Western sanctions.A raft of sanctions by the U.S. and allies against Moscow over its Ukraine invasion, along with tighter scrutiny of Russian oil trade, has almost cut Russia off from the global network of service providers such as insurers and brokers.Russian companies Sogaz Insurance…

The International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC) has highlighted the importance of robust vessel design reviews and related insurance coverage throughout the construction process following a recent dispute between a naval architect, a shipowner and a shipyard regarding a vessel’s operational performance post-delivery.The vessel, a 24-metre catamaran servicing the offshore oil and gas industry, faced considerable operational limitations. This was attributed to unexpected vibration issues in the vessel's rudders…

The number of stern tube-related damage claims has increased considerably over the last few years, and this is causing marine insurer Gard some concern.In the past, damage to a stern tube was often considered a relatively straightforward casualty by surveyors. The cause was often obvious – contact with a floating object such as ice, fishing nets or ropes, for example.These causes still exist, but the significant increase in frequency over the past years, without any apparent explanation…

During this year’s annual conference held in Edinburgh, the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) took the opportunity to explore and debate the question of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) with the ambition of taking concrete steps to enhance its own representation and that of the marine insurance community more generally.Patrizia Kern-Ferretti, Chair of IUMI’s Nominating Committee, is driving the initiative and explained: “In 2010, after IUMI having been in existence for more than 135 years, I was only the second woman to chair an IUMI Technical Committee.

Opening this week’s International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) annual conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, President Frédéric Denèfle explained the conference theme of “strength and stability in turbulent seas” saying it is essentially “business as usual” for marine underwriters.“As marine underwriters, we are used to managing an array of casualties and losses onboard a variety of vessels and in ports and other shoreside facilities. Dealing with the fall-out from natural catastrophes such as earthquakes and weather events are also workaday issues.

Safetytech Accelerator, a non-profit established by Lloyd’s Register, has confirmed that UK maritime insurers, the UK P&I Club and TT Club, have signed up for its Cargo Fire & Loss Innovation Initiative (CFLII).The Initiative, launched in February 2023, is a multi-year collaborative technology acceleration program focused on reducing cargo fires and loss in maritime and its impact. It is already supported by anchor partners COSCO Shipping Lines, Evergreen Line, HMM, Lloyd’s Register…

Ongoing and new threats posed by the ripple effects of the Ukraine conflict will create challenges to the shipping sector over the next 12 months and beyond, according to insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE’s (AGCS) Safety & Shipping Review 2023.Every year AGCS analyzes reported shipping losses and casualties involving vessels over 100 gross tons. During 2022, 38 total losses were reported globally, compared with 59 a year earlier. This represents a 65% decline in…

Allianz just released its 12th Risk Barometer, an annual corporate risk survey incorporating the views of 2,712 risk management experts in 94 countries and territories, including CEOs, risk managers, brokers and insurance experts. The overall global results reveal Cyber incidents and Business interruption as the biggest company concerns for the second year in succession. Macroeconomic developments such as inflation, financial market volatility and a looming recession rose to the third spot followed by the impact of the Energy crisis…

Costs for hiring ships to transport commodities from the Black Sea have risen by more than a fifth since the start of the year, reflecting higher war risk insurance rates, industry sources said.The Black Sea is crucial for the shipment of grain, oil and oil products. Its waters are shared by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania and Turkey, as well as Russia and Ukraine. Since Jan. 1, when policies are renewed, reinsurers that provide financial protection for insurance companies have added exclusions for ships and planes for Belarus…

Three Japanese insurance companies that are set to halt marine coverage of risks related to the war in Ukraine starting next month are in talks with reinsurers to resume those operations, they said on Monday. Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, Sompo Japan Insurance and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance on Friday told shipowners that they would stop offering marine war insurance, which covers damage to ships from war in Russian waters, from Jan. 1, spokespeople at the companies said. Their comments confirmed local media reports on Saturday.

A new mobile app from North P&I is designed to make collecting evidence on incidents faster, easier and more accurate while enhancing reporting consistency in future claims. ‘The MRCE Handbook’ app from North is aimed to help senior officers, surveyors and shore-based technical and marine personnel gather evidence quickly and efficiently, using standardised formats on mobile phones and tablets.The MRCE Handbook app has been developed by North’s in-house Loss Prevention Team using proven methodologies established in The Mariner’s Role in Collecting Evidence Handbook.

About the Author: Captain Rahul Khanna is Global Head of Marine Risk Consulting at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty. A marine professional with 26 years of experience within the Shipping and Maritime industry, Captain Khanna served more than 14 years on board merchant ships in all ranks, including Master of large oil tankers trading worldwide. Although shipping losses have more than halved over the past decade fires on board vessels remain among the biggest safety issues for the maritime industry.

With 90% of global trade moved by sea, shipping is a major contributor to climate change. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimated that the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions grew by 10% between 2012 and 2018, while the industry’s share of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions grew slightly to almost 3%, about the same volume as Germany. It also forecasts that ‘business as usual’ could see emissions increase by up to 50% by 2050 due to the growth in shipping trade.The race to decarbonize shipping is now underway.

With 90% of global trade moved by sea, shipping is a major contributor to climate change. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimated that the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions grew by 10% between 2012 and 2018, while the industry’s share of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions grew slightly to almost 3%, about the same volume as Germany. It also forecasts that ‘business as usual’ could see emissions increase by up to 50% by 2050 due to the growth in shipping trade.The race to decarbonize shipping is now underway.

WTW has launched CyNav for Ports and Terminals, a cyber solution specifically designed to help address the escalating cyber risks faced by owners and operators in this strategically vital sector of the global maritime supply chain. The release of CyNav for Ports and Terminals is a direct response to growing calls from operators for a bespoke product that addresses the specific risks faced by their high-value asset class and closes the gaps found in the standard cyber policies of today’s insurance market.Due to the outsized role its practitioners play in supporting the global economy…

Insurers have raised the cost of providing cover for merchant ships through the Black Sea, adding to soaring rates to transport goods through the region for vessels still willing to sail after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Ship owners pay annual war-risk insurance cover as well as an additional "breach" premium when entering high-risk areas. These separate premiums are calculated according to the value of the ship, or hull, for a seven-day period.Ship insurers have quoted the additional premium rate for seven days at anywhere between 1% to 2% and up to 5% of insurance costs…

Britannia P&I and its Exclusive Correspondent in the US, B Americas P&I, announce the recruitment of Marcela Pizzaro. She joined B Americas P&I on 3 January 2022.Pizzaro worked for many years at one of the major international container lines, where she was Director of Corporate Insurance Risk Management with oversight and responsibility for the company’s risk, insurance and claims in North America. Prior to this, she was Vice President of Shipping Legal Affairs for a shipowner based in Chile.

The blocking of the Suez Canal by one of the largest container ships in service in the world – the Ever Given – in March 2021 caused huge delays to hundreds of vessels waiting to transit the canal, one of the biggest chokepoints on the critical East/West trade shipping route. The blockage was estimated to have affected an estimated $9.6bn of goods each day, or around 12% of total world trade.The latest in a growing list of incidents involving large vessels, the Ever Given has…