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Marine Insurance News

15 Oct 2023

Gard: Increase in Stern Tube Damage Concerning

Source: Gard

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


11 Oct 2023

IUMI Encouraging Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

Patrizia Kern-Ferretti, Chair of IUMI’s Nominating Committee (Source: IUMI)

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.

18 Sep 2023

Marine Insurance Market is “Strength and Stability in Turbulent Seas”

President Frédéric DenÚfle (source  IUMI)

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.

06 Sep 2023

UK Insurers Join Cargo Safety Initiative

Source: Lloyd's Register

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


31 May 2023

Shadow Tanker Fleet Poses New Safety Challenges

© momentscatcher / Adobe Stock

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


23 Feb 2023

Top Threats for the Marine Industry in 2023

Fire and explosion onboard ships remains the number one concern. Copyright Artem/AdobeStock

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


06 Jan 2023

Black Sea Shipping Rates Soar 20% as Reinsurers Cut Cover

Lifting cargo cranes, ships and grain dryer in Sea Port of Odessa, Black Sea, Ukraine. Copyright Oleksandra/AdobeStock

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


27 Dec 2022

Japan Insurers in Talks with Reinsurers to Resume Coverage in Russian Waters

Credit:  Evgeny/AdobeStock

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.

12 Dec 2022

North P&I Launches Mobile App to ease Evidence Gathering

“Once the facts are known, they can be used to demonstrate compliance or determine liability, but also to learn and help prevent similar incidents from happening in the future,” said Mike Salthouse, Global Director (Claims), North. “Establishing what really happened and how it happened is critical and, as well as making it easier for mariners to fulfil evidence-gathering duties, The MRCE Handbook app will also help to base safety recommendations on more accurate evidence." Photo courtesy North P

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.

03 Oct 2022

Lithium-ion Batteries: Fire Risks and Loss Prevention Measures in Shipping

Copyright JustSuper/AdobeStock

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.

08 Aug 2022

Marine Insurance: Climate Change Challenges for the Shipping Industry

Copyright Michele Ursi/AdobeStock

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.

29 Jul 2022

Marine Insurance: Climate Change Challenges for the Shipping Industry

Copyright Michele Ursi/AdobeStock

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.

01 Jun 2022

Marine Insurance: CyNav for Ports & Terminals

Copyright metamorworks/AdobeStock

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


25 Feb 2022

Insurance Costs of Shipping Through Black Sea on the Rise

Illustration: a ship in the Black Sea near Crimea ©Garnelis/AdobeStock

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


04 Jan 2022

Pizzaro Joins Britannia P&I

Marcela Pizarro. Photo courtesy Debra Massey/Flickr

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.

09 Dec 2021

Insurance Insights: Larger Vessels, Larger Exposures

Photo courtesy Boskalis

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


02 Jun 2021

Berkshire Hathaway Launches Marine Insurance Products in France

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has launched a full line of marine insurance products in France and appointed Muriel Birre Julvécourt as Head of Marine. The company said that the new marine offerings included Inland Marine, Ocean Cargo, Stock & Transit, Project Cargo, Freight Forwarders Liability, Ports & Terminals, and Subsea Insurance.Muriel Birre Julvécourtcomes to BHSI with more than 25 years of marine underwriting experience. She was most recently Head of Marine at RSA Group. Before that, she held various management roles in Marine at Groupama Transport.

25 Sep 2020

IUMI: Insurers, Underwriters Must Jump Onboard Maritime's Digital Transformation

“Digitalization is not an option anymore - it is here to stay - and the marine insurance sector needs to keep pace" said Patrizia Kern, IUMI Data and Digitalization Forum Chair.

Speaking at the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) annual conference, IUMI Data and Digitalization Forum Chair, Patrizia Kern discussed big data, the use of digital technologies, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has put digitalization on the fast track.“Digitalization is not an option anymore - it is here to stay - and the marine insurance sector needs to keep pace," said Kern. "For some time now, the shipping industry has been seeking cost-effective ways to operate and key logistics players have already begun to partner and digitalize the global marine supply chain.

28 Apr 2020

Willis Towers Watson Launches New Cyber Insurance, CyNav for Ship Owners

© Gorodenkoff/AdobeStock

Willis Towers Watson unveiled a new type of cyber insurance product for shipowners that redesigns standard cyber policies to better navigate the risks for ship operators in the digital era.The solution, CyNav, addresses cyber threats in the broadest sense, including losses that occur from cyber-related business interruptions, even when the cyber events originate with third party IT service providers.CyNav’s primary focus is to support the continuity of maritime businesses and


25 Nov 2019

Romania Tries to Free Trapped Sheep on Capsized Ship

Port authorities tried to right a capsized ship on Monday to rescue thousands of sheep trapped below deck in the Black Sea off Romania.The Palau-registered Queen Hind flipped onto its side shortly after leaving Romania's Midia port en route to Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Its crew, most of them Syrians, were rescued."There are hopes to rescue many sheep, as they are trapped under the deck in air pockets," an officer from Romania's naval authority said, speaking on condition of anonymity."But operations to lighten the ship and refloat it are very difficult and may last several days," the officer added.Drone footage released on the BBC showed the bodies of dozens of drowned animals floating next to the vessel.Just 50 of the ship's estimated load of 14


20 Nov 2019

North P&I Club Sets 7.5% General Increase

Pratap Shirke (Photo: North P&I Club)

Directors of North P&I Club have decided to set a general increase of 7.5% on P&I and FD&D premiums for the 2020/21 Policy Year. The increase is considered necessary to maintain the Club’s financial strength and stability in a climate of rising International Group Pool claims and premium erosion.According to North’s Chairman, Pratap Shirke, “The marine insurance landscape has been challenging, and during this time we have persisted with our strategy of preserving a balance between reliable financial management and our desire for controlled growth.

30 Oct 2019

Decarbonisation a Major Issue in Shipping

Survey respondents from 46 different countries around the world highlight ‘decarbonization of shipping’, ‘new environmental regulation’, ‘societal demands for sustainability’, and ‘failure of climate-change mitigation and adoption’ as four of the top 10 issues in terms of potential impact on the maritime industry.The Global Maritime Issues Monitor 2019, which surveyed respondents from 46 countries, ranked only the “global economic crisis” ahead of “decarbonisation of shipping” as the issue to have the greatest impact on the industry over the next decade.Senior leaders foresee environmental and climate related issues to have a major impact


20 Sep 2019

IUMI Reports Cut in Offshore Insurance Premiums

International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) Offshore Energy Committee reported a further reduction in global offshore energy premiums.Global premiums in this sector were reported to be USD 3.4 billion which represented a 3% reduction from 2017. This continued the downward trend: premiums in 2017 were down 5% on the previous year and premiums in 2016 were down 21% on 2015.James McDonald, Chair of the IUMI Offshore Energy Committee said: "The drop in premium income has largely followed the oil price which has dipped by around 20% over the past year. Oil demand is being affected by trade tensions which is impacting economies across the world.