Marine Insurance Community News

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.

Marine and engineering consultancy LOC Group and marine survey experts Studio Navale Canepa (SNC) have entered a collaboration agreement whereby the two organizations will combine expertise and global networks to offer casualty services to the Italian market. SNC specializes in providing hull and machinery related casualty surveying services to the Italian insurance and shipping sectors through its in-house team, supported by a network of trusted associates. Joining forces with the LOC world-wide network extends SNC’s reach allowing it to deliver more cost-effective, global services to the Italian community. Meanwhile, LOC will benefit from working alongside a company that is established in the Italian shipping and insurance markets.

Leading international marine and engineering consultancy LOC Group has announced a collaboration agreement with marine survey experts Studio Navale Canepa (SNC) of Italy. Together the two organisations are combining expertise and their global networks to offer unrivalled casualty services to the Italian market. SNC specialises in providing Hull & Machinery related casualty surveying services to the Italian insurance and shipping sectors through its in-house team, supported by a network of trusted associates. Joining forces with the LOC world-wide network significantly extends SNC’s reach allowing it to deliver more cost-effective, global services to the Italian community.

Members of the International Union of Marine Insurance, in its 140th year, will gather in Hong Kong from 21-24 September at the Intercontinental Hotel, Kowloon for its annual conference themed Building Expertise for a Changing World. Over 500 attendees will hear from leading experts on how the marine environment is evolving as governments and businesses attempt to chart a secure, sustainable economic recovery. From cargo inventory, legal disputes, loss ratios and offshore drilling, the conference - with an emphasis on Asia - has the best and latest information to help the marine insurance community navigate its way through a changing world.

The U.S. has the most stringent, comprehensive marine pollution laws of any country on the planet. The last 30 years have marked an evolution from little legal enforcement to strict liability for marine pollution. One company, WQIS, a provider of marine pollution liability insurance in the U.S., celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Two events proved pivotal in developing the United States' liability enforcement of marine pollution laws. In 1967, the Torrey Canyon spill off the Scilly Isles in England provided some of the most shocking images ever seen in marine pollution cleanup. Faced with an overwhelming spill and the inability to contain it, Royal Air Force fighter planes dropped napalm bombs in an effort to burn off the oil and sink the ship.

The Joint Hull Committee's (JHC) project to produce a new set of hull insurance clauses which is intended to reflect the needs and requirements of today's shipowners and insurers has been completed on time. The new clauses, which have been drafted following extensive consultation with shipowners and other interested parties, will be available for use from November 1 and will be known as the International Hull Clauses. The revised clauses are not a major rewrite of the 1983 and 1995 Institute Time Clauses currently in use. Rather, they have been updated so as to embrace current market practice whilst recognizing and supporting the role of ISM, flag states and classification societies.