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Tt Club News

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


10 Nov 2021

TT Club Taps Blunsum as Chief Technology Officer

Kevin Blunsum (Photo: TT Club)

Freight and logistics insurer TT Club said it has appointed Kevin Blunsum as its first Chief Technology Officer.Blunsum is a highly experienced and well-respected member of the London-market insurance community. Over his 30-year career he has held a variety of positions engaged in insurance technology development and change management with Deloitte, EY, Accenture, and more recently with Aspen Insurance as Director of Business Transformation.Blunsum will be working closely with Lisa Gibbard


09 Dec 2020

Top Maritime Trends of 2020: Tackling the Scourge of Containership Fires

“One troubling statistic is that on average there is a fire onboard a container ship every week, with a major container fire occurring on average every 60 days.” (Photo: Indian Coast Guard)

The proliferation of serious fires onboard container ships in recent years has shocked the shipping industry. Here we examine the causes and impact of such fires and the urgent efforts being made by a wide variety of stakeholders to solve this seemingly intractable problem.Over the last decade there has been a 70% fall in ship total losses[1]. This has been widely credited to long term improvements in ship safety management and loss prevention programs. Counter to this trend, there has been a substantial increase in the number of fires in containers carried onboard container and RoRo ships.

06 Aug 2020

Insurers Discuss Container Casualty Causes

Copyright: donvictori0/AdobeStock

Handling of steel boxes throughout the shipping, ports and logistics supply chain has historically grown exponentially, putting strains on a range of operational procedures and the physical hardware employed to handle the steel boxes, particularly onboard ships. A recent webinar organized by the Thomas Miller managed insurance mutuals, container freight specialist TT Club and protection & indemnity insurer, UK P&I Club, revealed the diverse range of factors important to safe container ship operations and the security of the container stacks they carry.

08 Jun 2020

TT Club Warns of Stowaway Risks

© olrat / Adobe Stock

Clandestine migration has been a problem for the transport sector across Europe for some time now. While more stringent border crossing checks have been imposed due to the current COVID-19 crisis, the risk to operators is not diminished. Furthermore, as the restrictions on movement begin to ease migration activity could be set to escalate warns international freight insurer TT Club.The smuggling of people has become a major issue in certain parts of the world. Political imperatives in target countries have led to stricter immigration restrictions and increased government action.

14 Nov 2019

Containership Fires

© Chris Mirek Freeman/Adobe Stock

Incidents involving container ships, although not new, have made the news much more frequently of late. In 2011 the Container Incident Notification System (CINS) was established to allow container ship owners to self-report incidents that might be of concern the other members of the group, and today CINS has 17 vessel owner members.The cases of the Yantian Express, Maersk Honam, MSC Flaminia, MSC Daniela, are some of the most recent examples of container ship fires. The rise in the rate of container ship fires


11 Dec 2018

ChainPORT Renews Digital, Environmental Commitment

Delegates from the world’s leading ports have come together to examine their role in the rapidly evolving maritime logistics landscape and in particular to coordinate their contribution to the establishment of an interconnected maritime supply chain at the Port of Barcelona.The multilateral partnership of the world leading ports, ChainPORT, has just concluded its 4th Annual Meeting which was hosted last week by the Port of Barcelona.ChainPORT was initiated in 2016 by the Port Authorities of Hamburg and Los Angeles in collaboration with the Global Institute of Logistics with the goal of raising awareness of the key role that Port Authorities


26 Sep 2018

Maersk Amends Dangerous Goods Stowage Rules

Aiming to further improve safety practices in stowage of dangerous cargo aboard container vessels, Maersk has completed implementation of new guidelines on dangerous goods stowage.After a thorough review of current safety practices and policies in the stowage of dangerous cargo, Maersk has now completed implementation of new guidelines to improve safety across its container vessel fleet, said a press release from the company.Following the tragic fire aboard Maersk Honam in March this year, Maersk took measures and implemented additional preliminary guidelines for stowage of dangerous goods. The company evaluated over 3,000 United Nations


26 Sep 2018

Maersk: New Cargo Guidelines After Containership Fire

The Indian Coast Guard battles flames aboard the Maersk Honan (File photo: Indian Coast Guard)

Maersk has implemented new guidelines on dangerous goods stowage that aim to improve safety practices across its fleet in the wake of the fire aboard containership Maersk Honam that killed five crewmembers earlier this year.Following the deadly fire, Maersk evaluated more than 3,000 United Nations (UN) numbers of hazardous materials in order to further understand and improve dangerous cargo stowage on board container vessels and developed a new set of principles called Risk Based Dangerous Goods Stowage.Together with the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)


19 Jan 2017

Skuld Hires Cargo and Marine Property Head

Marine insurance provider Skuld announces the appointment of Paul Knighton as global head of marine cargo and marine property. He will join Skuld Syndicate 1897 in the summer. Knighton will enhance Skuld’s well-established marine cargo and marine property portfolio by building its offering to clients. He will focus predominantly on developing a total solution product for ports, terminals and freight logistics operators. Knighton will join Skuld from the TT Club where he has been a senior underwriter since 2012. Prior to working at the TT Club, Knighton has held roles at Craven and Partners, Aon and Lockton. Ståle Hansen, Skuld president and CEO, said: ‘I am delighted to have attracted an underwriter of Paul’s calibre.

29 Sep 2016

VGM Grace Period Ends October 1

File photo: Port of Savannah

The three-month settling-in period suggested by the IMO to its Member States in which competent authorities were urged to adopt a ‘practical and pragmatic’ approach to the enforcement of the SOLAS revision stipulating all packed containers have a verified gross mass (VGM) before being stowed aboard a ship comes to an end on October 1. Long-time champion of the cause of safer container transport and a leading insurer of the international freight industry, TT Club believes that


27 May 2016

TT Club Reports Robust Financial Results for 2015

TT Club has announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2015, and AM Best affirms its A- (Excellent) rating for the 10th consecutive year. Knud Pontoppidan, Chairman of TT Club, said, “After very good years in 2013 and 2014, 2015 was what most might be described as a ‘normal year’. Incidents such as Tianjin and a number of cargo-related fires meant the Club experienced a higher number of large claims above $1million than in 2013 and 2014. “Despite the increase in large claims, and the soft rating conditions, the Club continues to be in good shape,” Pontoppidan said. “The Board and I are pleased with our very high retention levels in 2015 at 93 percent and the feedback we receive from Members and brokers on our service levels.

23 May 2016

TT Club Welcomes IMO Guidance on SOLAS VGM Amendment

At an International Maritime Organization (IMO) Maritime Safety Committee session in London that culminated on Friday, delegates agreed on guidance and advice to both those active in the container supply chain globally (shippers, carriers and port operators), as well as governmental representatives (so-called Competent Authorities) tasked with enforcing the regulation. The soon to be issued Circular will urge ‘practical and pragmatic’ enforcement of VGM over the first three-month settling-in period, partly in respect of transhipment containers but also recognising the probability of ‘teething’ problems in documenting, communicating and sharing VGM information.

03 Mar 2016

APM Terminals Buenos Aires Wins Safety Award

ICHCA’s inaugural International ‘Innovation in Safety’ Award was presented in recognition of APM Terminals Buenos Aires Terminal 4’s “Safety Logging System”. Barcelona, Spain – APM Terminals Buenos Aires, operator of the Terminal 4 facility in Argentina’s primary port, was named winner of the first annual “Innovation in Safety Award”, bestowed by ICHCA International, an independent organization dedicated to improving the safety, productivity and efficiency of cargo handling and transportation, at the annual ICHCA conference, held this year in Spain. “We are proud to be named as the very first winner of the ICHCA “Innovation in Safety Award”


25 Feb 2016

Are You Ready for Container Weighing?

Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited in its latest ship2shore Magazine takes a look at methods of weighing containers. Half a century after containerization first emerged to transform the world of shipping, a landmark new regulation is on the horizon. From 1 July 2016, an amendment to the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) Convention will require every packed export container to have its weight verified before it is loaded on to a ship. The new regulation puts this responsibility firmly on the shipper – but how many shippers are actually ready for container weighing? The Freight Transport Association recently warned that shippers could fall foul of the new legislation after 1 July 2016 if they don’t put measures in place to verify the gross mass of their containers.

09 Dec 2015

Industry Coalition Clarifies Container Weighing Regs

File photo (credit: Captain Katharine Sweeney)

The World Shipping Council (WSC), the TT Club, the International Cargo Handling Coordination Association (ICHCA) and the Global Shippers’ Forum (GSF) jointly released a new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document to address issues arising from the new container weighing regulations due to take effect globally on July 1, 2016. The amendments to the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) Convention require packed shipping containers to have a verified gross mass (VGM) before they can be loaded on a ship for export.

14 Oct 2015

Black Market Refrigerants Pose Risk to Shippers

Svenn Jacobsen

In 2011, several refrigerated, reefer containers exploded, killing three port workers. While there has been no further tragedies since then, counterfeit refrigerants remain in circulation and still represent a safety risk. Counterfeit refrigerant cylinders can consist of a dangerously unstable cocktail of gases, blended to roughly mimic the most common refrigerant, R-134a. These cylinders are often loaded with rogue gases such as R-40. Though similar to R-134a, R-40 reacts with aluminium to form trimethylaluminum, a highly volatile substance that, when exposed to air, can explode.

01 Oct 2015

P&I Clubs Welcome Changes on Container Weighing

UK P&I Club, a shipping protection and indemnity mutual insurers, and TT Club, an  international transport, freight and logistics insurance provider, have welcomed the amendment to the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on the requirement that containers have a verified gross mass before being loaded onto a ship. The requirement becomes mandatory on July 1, 2016, after which date it would be a violation of SOLAS to load a packed container onto a ship if the ship and marine terminal operator do not have a verified container gross mass. Operators who fail to comply will be fined or penalised.

06 Aug 2015

Calais Crisis Presents Liability Issues, TT Club Warns

As the political and humanitarian situation in Calais continues to unfold, the specialist freight transport insurer, TT Club provides a perspective on the implications for the freight and haulage industry and steps which operators can take to avoid heavy penalties from being caught carrying illegal immigrants. While focused on the current situation in Calais, the precautionary measures recommended are generally relevant. The problem of illegal immigrants entering Western Europe has been a geopolitical issue for several years. Thus far in 2015 it is widely reported that there have been in excess of 37,000 attempts by immigrants to cross from France to England, the vast majority via Calais.

10 Jul 2015

TT Club Urges Immediate Action on Box Weighing

File photo

Provider of insurance and related risk management services to the transport and logistics industry TT Club said it welcomes the initiative of the World Shipping Council (WSC) in its recent publication of guidelines to the industry in relation to implementing the SOLAS requirements that become mandatory on July 1, 2016. Unlike the CTU Code, which forensically seeks to identify the chain of responsibility for everyone involved in the movement of freight, the amendment to the Safety


16 Jun 2015

TT Club Calls for ‘Utmost Good Faith’ in the Container Supply Chain

Kevin King (Photo: TT Club)

TT Club has long championed a variety of measures designed to increase safety throughout the container supply chain. In Rotterdam last week, Kevin King, the Club’s Regional Director EMEA took the opportunity to address an audience of container operators, port and terminal executives and logistics professionals to highlight the crucial importance of an  under lying principle of best practice, which would improve the industry’s safety record. “As articulated in the UK MAIB’s report into the loss of MSC Napoli, safety margins are being eroded or eliminated,” said King.

11 May 2015

Seminar Highlights Freight Liability in Russia

Kevin King

International freight insurer TT Club convened a special seminar at the recent conference on transport and logistics, Trans Russia in Moscow. Lead by TT Club’s General Manager, EMEA, Kevin King and Kirill Berezov from the insurer’s long-established Russian network partner Panditrans, the seminar outlined both the changing nature of the transport operator’s liability in Russia and the idiosyncratic nature of insurance conventions applicable in the region. TT Club believes that there is an urgent need for international freight forwarders


23 Apr 2015

‘Beware the Big Ship Hype’ -TT Club

Phillip Emmanuel (Photo: TT Club)

TT Club’s Phillip Emmanuel has put into perspective some of the “sensationalism” surrounding the recent growth trend in containerships. Speaking during a plenary session of the TOC Asia Conference in Singapore on Tuesday, he advised ports and terminals to take a measured approach to the risk management of their operations, looking carefully at the ramifications to their own facilities of potential larger ship calls. TT Club is positioned as an insurer of risks for container lines and cargo handling facilities to advise on the type and extent of exposure.

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