Insurance Sector News

SAYFR entered into an MoU with Japanese underwriter Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (MSI) aimed at reducing risks of major incidents through building safety culture maturity in the maritime and offshore energy sectors. SAYFR has worked with MSI on several joint initiatives in the last two years. MSI is one of the world’s largest insurers and holds the biggest market position in the Japanese marine hull insurance sector.Focus areas have been identified and will be covered under the MoU…

While the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in few direct claims for the marine insurance sector, the impact on the welfare of crews and the boom in shipping and port congestion, exacerbated by the Ukraine invasion, raises potential safety concerns.Demand for crew is currently high with the shipping boom, yet following the Covid-19 pandemic many skilled and experienced crew are leaving the industry, having endured many months, and in some cases, years, stuck on vessels. For those that choose to remain…

The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) announced geospatial intelligence technology provider Geollect as the winner of the second ADMIRALTY Marine Innovation Program challenge.Launched last year in collaboration with RE_SET, the program aims to help start-ups and innovators develop new solutions that support safe, secure and thriving oceans. The program’s second innovation challenge focused on ‘Transforming Maritime Risk & Insurance’, with entrants tasked with identifying, trialing and proving how marine geospatial data can be used to enhance maritime insurance products.For this challenge…

GCube, an insurer for renewable energy projects, hired three new underwriters for its offshore wind team, including Joshua Cantwell, formerly of Talbot Underwriting, and Zoe Massie, formerly of Allianz Global.The appointments come alongside a number of new hires in the U.S. as GCube builds its global presence in the renewable energy insurance sector.Prior to joining GCube, Cantwell held the position of Class Underwriter and subsequently Interim Head of Energy for Talbot Underwriting.He was responsible for the global Upstream portfolio and has been directly managing the Upstream London team over the course of the past year. Cantwell will…

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.

The need for ships to change crews and for the world's 1.2 million seafarers to be able to fly home at the end of their periods of service have emerged as two of the biggest challenges facing the shipping industry as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.To help governments put in place coordinated procedures to facilitate the safe movement of seafarers, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) issued a 12-step plan to 174 member states, providing them with a roadmap to free…

Boriana Farrar is a familiar face in maritime circles, the Vice President and Counsel and a Senior Claims Executive and Business Development Director for the Americas at the Ship Owners Claims Bureau, Inc. managers of the American P&I Club. We met with her in her NYC office to discuss her path from her native Bulgaria to a top maritime professional position.When Boriana Farrar moved from her native Bulgaria to the United States in 2001, she did so to be close to family, her mother and her sister who had already established a life in the U.S., some 5,000 miles from her homeland.

The international shipping industry is responsible for around 90% of world trade. There are around 60,000 merchant ships, transporting every kind of cargo.The world fleet is registered in over 150 nations, and manned by over a million seafarers, meaning the safety of vessels is critical. The maritime industry saw the number of total shipping losses of vessels over 100GT plummet during 2018 to 46 – the lowest total this century. To put this into context there were 207 total losses reported in 2000.The figures are published by the Safety and Shipping Review from Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) incorporating the statistics from the past 10 yearsShipping losses declined by a record level of more than 50% year-on-year from 98 in 2017…

Although global premiums for the offshore energy insurance sector dipped by 5% in 2017, signs of recovery are on the horizon."We need to apply some caution as the margins between supply and demand are thin but these small margins can create volatility in the market," pointed out International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI)'s Offshore Energy Committee Chairman, James McDonald.Oil prices have steadily risen by 40% since last year’s IUMI conference and this is starting to drive activity in the oil and gas sector. Capital expenditure in the sector is forecast to grow by around 6% each year with the lion’s share of the growth being in North America…

Naval Dome has called on marine insurers to revoke the controversial Clause CL 380 and implement policies that insure against the risk of cyber-attacks on ship systems.Speaking in Cape Town, South Africa, today during the International Union of Marine Insurance’s (IUMI) annual conference, Naval Dome CEO Itai Sela said that with the maritime industry increasingly moving towards connected, cloud-based technologies and autonomous operation, a 15-year-old Clause that excludes damage to computer systems…

Shipowners Claims Bureau, Inc. (SCB), the Manager of the American P&I Club, has recently announced a series of appointments designed to service the Club’s growing membership and help fulfil longer-term goals of continued expansion. The American Club has grown its membership substantially over recent years, tonnage having increased by some 25 percent over the past 24 months, and these appointments are intended to consolidate the Club’s continuing service capabilities in the future.The…

Against the backdrop of encouraging global economic growth and an improved outlook for the shipping industry, the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) gives expert opinion on the current state of the hull, cargo and offshore energy insurance markets at its Spring Conference in Hamburg. The past three years has seen the frequency of total losses within the global fleet stabilise at 0.13% by number (0.05% by tonnage). This is largely attributable to an improved safety climate, improvements in naval architecture and marine engineering; and more effective regulation. Total losses involving vessels younger than 15 years were significantly less during the 2013-17 period than the years 2008-2012.

British ship insurer North is setting up a new European Union subsidiary in Dublin in case Britain loses access to the single market after Brexit, becoming the first of these specialised providers to announce such a move. Insurers are making contingency plans after Britain’s vote to leave the EU means they could risk losing “passporting” rights that allow UK financial services firms to trade in Europe without the need for locally regulated entities. Britain dominates the global marine insurance market and losing access to specialist Protection and Indemnity (P&I) clubs like North could weaken other parts of the country’s multi-billion pound shipping services sector.

Though water covers more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, businesses engaged in marine shipping operations and logistics, and other businesses that manufacture and ship product still have a lot of ground to cover getting their various goods to their final destinations. The ocean marine insurance market, the oldest insurance market in the world, was initially developed to protect these goods while crossing the ocean’s open waters, later to morph into a product to protect all international transportation regardless of mode.

At annual IUMI (International Union of Marine Insurance) conference in Tokyo, James McDonald, chairman of IUMI’s Offshore Energy Committee warned that the sector was “sinking”. His warning was based on declining total premium income set alongside upstream energy large losses for 2015-16 of USD 4.8 billion. McDonald explained: “In recent years it would appear that claims have exceeded the global premium base and the last two underwriting years have seen significant losses. The impact of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey are unlikely to deliver the same magnitude of loss that resulted from Katrina and Rita in 2005 or Ike in 2008, but whilst Harvey and Irma appear not to have had much impact on the offshore sector the year’s hurricane season still has some distance to run”.

The cost of operating cargo ships has fallen for two successive years but is forecast to rise in 2017 and beyond, according to the latest Ship Operating Costs Annual Review and Forecast 2016/17 report published by global shipping consultancy Drewry. 2016 was another very difficult year for most shipowners and operators. Weak freight rates, declining asset values, eroded profitability and denuded cash balances have forced shipowners to reduce costs wherever possible, and vessel operating expenses have been no exception. Drewry’s assessment of 2016 operating costs across 44 different ship types and sizes shows that shipowners have trimmed costs in 2016 for the second successive year. The average decline in total ship operating costs among the vessel categories covered was 4.4%.

Helle Hammer, Managing Director Cefor & Chair of the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) Political Forum discuss about Container Weighing Rules. As of 1 July 2016, only containers with a verified gross mass will be allowed to be loaded on board a vessel (although IMO is allowing a grace period of three months). Although the new SOLAS requirement was adopted in 2014, many shippers and forwarders are still unprepared, and masters will have little choice but to refuse unverified containers. In the short term, non-compliance is likely to affect the cargo insurance sector. Issues include increases in risk exposure due to disturbances in the supply chain…

Speaking at this year’s IUMI annual conference in Berlin, Nick Derrick, Chairman of IUMI’s Cargo Committee warned that large cargo losses were having a significant impact on the marine insurance sector. “Tianjin port covers an area of around 125 sq km”, says Derrick, “but only a small part of the port was affected by the explosion. Even so, we are expecting to see cargo losses of at least USD1.5 billion with some reports stating that the final figure could be as high as USD6 billion. Cargo insurers need to understand what the dollar loss might have been if the entire port had been affected, perhaps by a natural catastrophe such as an earthquake or tsunami”.

The weather might be depressing, but the outlook for the city is anything but. Bergen’s shipping industry and maritime related services sectors are going from strength to strength, bullishly rebutting the worst of the waves caused by the ongoing global financial crisis. The secret, locals argue, is a long-term industry view, the strength and diversity of the maritime cluster and the fact that Bergen blood is very much thicker than water. Maritime Reporter goes native to investigate. Rain, mountains and fjords: The three things that spring most readily to mind when the name Bergen is mentioned.

The marine insurance sector is undergoing a rapid period of change and it is critical that insurers understand the risks the industry is facing and offer products that match these new trends, Dieter Berg, president of the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) said. He outlined four new risks the industry is facing that insurers must endeavour to better understand. The first was cyber threats, thanks to the industry’s growing reliance on IT within shipping companies, ports & logistics and offshore. “Underwriters need a better understanding of these risks and must tailor their products to meet client needs,” he said. The second was Ultra Large Container Vessels…

According to data from the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau, pirate attacks in Southeast Asia hit a 12-year high in the first six months of 2015. Indonesia suffered 54 attacks, the highest tally since 2003, continuing a trend that has seen acts of piracy more than triple since 2010. There was also a pick-up in activity in the Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia, a channel plagued by piracy for centuries. Malaysia itself and the Philippines also saw a rise in attacks, while Vietnam (13) and Bangladesh (11) suffered their worst January to June periods since at least 2010. However, not a single incident of piracy was reported off the coast of Somalia…

Explosions in the Chinese port of Tianjin last month would lead to cargo losses of at least $1.5 billion, and were having a "significant impact" on the marine insurance sector, a trade body said on Tuesday. "We are expecting to see cargo losses of at least $1.5 billion, with some reports stating that the final figure could be as high as $6 billion," Nick Derrick, chairman of the International Union of Marine Insurance's cargo committee, said in a statement. The incident should provide a "substantial wake-up call to all cargo insurers", he added. Reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter, a unit of Marsh & McLennan , said earlier this month that insurance losses for buildings, cargo, containers and property as a result of the explosions could total up to $3.3 billion.

The Swedish Club announced to its board today a significant increase in financial strength, with a positive underwriting outcome and investment earnings leading to a surplus of $17 million overall - a testament to the strategy of diversification and focused business development. This positive underwriting outcome resulted in a combined ratio of 93.5% with free reserves increasing to a record level of $168 million. The year also saw an increase of 6% in Owners P&I entries, which now total 37 million GT.