Insurance Division News

Familiarity can and does breed contempt. You don’t need anything else added to that heavy burden.We live and work in a frenetic environment replete with a wide range of both human and technological distractions. When those two elements came together on the bridge of a towboat traveling downriver to pick up a load of empty barges, the result was career-changing for the vessel’s first mate, who was on the wheel. It was yet another costly reminder of the need for professional mariners…

A generally sound assumption to make is that many recreational boaters operating power boats and sailing vessels are not very familiar with the maritime Rules of the Road that their professional mariner counterparts understand and adhere to. The unfortunate consequence is a wide array of marine casualties and incidents from collisions, allisions, capsizings, groundings, wake damage, many unreported and countless near misses. Another safe assumption is that it’s almost certain that when a professional mariner gets involved with a recreational boater, the authorities, most notably the U.S.

As summer slowly fades to memory and commercial vessels have less frequent encounters with recreational vessels of all sizes, shapes and descriptions on America’s inland waterways, it might be a good time to review a strange, but not completely unusual incident that occurred in Louisiana on a navigable channel in the lower Mississippi River late last May. A workboat was pushing a small barge through a narrow tributary on a job to deliver it to its destination approximately twelve miles away from where the transit originated.

It has been said that the vast majorities of collisions at sea occur in near perfect weather conditions. That trend can also be applied to the inland river system. Not too long ago, it was a beautiful mid-summer afternoon in the nation’s heartland. The skies were clear, the sun was shining and the variable southwest breeze barely caused a ripple on the muddy water of the winding river. Hopeful fishermen lined the riverbanks and a few recreational boats were cruising close to the floating docks lining both shores. This tranquil scene on this busy waterway was about to change … and quickly.

Falvey Insurance Group has formed a new division, Safe Harbor Pollution Insurance. Offering some of the broadest terms available in the commercial market, Safe Harbor's Global Vessel Pollution Policy provides comprehensive protection for any vessel, owner or operator. Veteran insurance professionals Russ Brown, Tony Gerone and Sean Quinn bring over 35 years of experience in underwriting marine pollution coverage to the new Long Island-based company. "The establishment of Safe Harbor Pollution Insurance Company represents the realization of our longstanding vision to offer an unparalleled level of service to our marketplace," said principal Russ Brown.

Valuable Lessons Learned – the Hard Way. Unfortunately, vessel collisions on America’s busy (but too often overlooked) inland waters have been a fact of life for a very long time. With towboats, barges, ferries, oceangoing vessels and recreational vessels all jockeying for position in limited space, many collisions, and even more near misses, are bound to happen. And while, thankfully, most of these incidents involving professional mariners do not lead to suspension and revocation proceedings against the involved licensed mariners…

As the summer wind comes blowing in, many professional mariners are painfully aware that the routes they normally ply with other commercial vessels for most of the year will be filled with all types of recreational craft. From sailboats and private fishing boats to speedboats and jet skis. Some of the busiest rivers, lakes, bays and harbors in the United States become extremely crowded with pleasure boaters who may or may not be familiar with the Rules of the Road when it comes to encounters with commercial vessels. In 2001, Captain Jack Sparks, who was then president of the American Pilots Association, told a reporter for The Journal of Commerce who asked about the impending start of the recreational boating season in the Mid-Atlantic States: “I am serious about this. They get in our way.

AKD Prinsen Van Wijmen, one of the largest law firms in the Netherlands, is expanding its transport law team. Effective October 15, three partners and three associates are joining AKD from the Rotterdam office of law firm NautaDutilh. Frans de Vries Lentsch. Also making the move are Emily Derogee van Roosmalen, who heads up the Netherlands arbitration platform, Transport and Maritime Arbitration Rotterdam-Amsterdam (TAMARA), Taco van der Valk, researcher, maritime and transport law, and Haco van der Houven van Oordt. They will join AKD's existing transport and insurance division, which currently has two partners, Leo Boersen and Carel van Lynden.

Lars Rhodin has been appointed Deputy Managing Director of The Swedish Club. His appointment takes effect on September 1. Lars Rhodin, previously Director, Claims & Legal Support, will work alongside Managing Director Frans Malmros in implementing a new structure for the Club centred around five teams – three based in Gothenburg and the others in Piraeus and Hong Kong. The new organisation, headed by an Insurance Division, will be introduced from October 1. The Piraeus and Hong Kong teams will continue to be headed by Clas Rydén and Tord Nilsson respectively. The Leaders of the three Gothenburg teams have yet to be appointed. The Gothenburg teams will be organised on the broad basis of geographic zones of membership.