Venture Insurance Programs Acquires Tidal Solutions
Venture will rebrand and integrate Tidal Solutions specialty commercial marine products into its portfolio of industry leading programs. Venture Insurance Programs, a national insurance program administrator, today announced it has acquired Tidal Solutions, LLC, a Charlotte, NC-based managing general underwriter serving the North American specialty commercial marine market. Venture will integrate the Tidal Solutions marine products into its portfolio of industry specific insurance programs. The products, which include Hull & Machinery, Protection & Indemnity, General Liability and Maritime Employer’s Liability coverage, will be marketed nationwide by Venture under the brand TIDAL MARINE through Venture’s agent and broker network.
Steve Kennedy Re-joins Allianz from Zurich North America
Allianz Group’s specialist corporate insurer, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), announce the appointment of Steve Kennedy as Head of Corporate Property and Inland Marine Claims, replacing Tony Clark who retired at the end of January 2014. Kennedy will manage a team of 18 professionals managing Property, Energy, and Engineering as well as Inland Marine claims for AGCS’s multinational clients. AGCS inform that Kennedy brings over 23 years of experience handling commercial property claims and over 14 years managing and training claims professionals. Kennedy joins Allianz from Zurich North America where he was Assistant Vice President. He previously served at Allianz from 1998 through 2010 in a variety of senior management positions.
Panama Canal Locks Contract in Effect
The agreement between the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and Grupo Unidos por el Canal. S.A. (GUPC) took effect Thursday, March 20 after signature by all involved parties. As announced by the ACP on February 27, the agreement falls within the terms of the contract for the design and construction of the third set of locks and does not include any payment for claims. GUPC's claims must be processed through the mechanisms within the contract. The contractor finishes the works in December 2015. The contractor will deliver in Panama the 12 lock gates currently in Italy by February 2015.
Panama Canal Expects Work Deal Thursday
The Panama Canal Authority expects to formally sign a deal next week with a Spanish-led consortium to finish work on expansion of the waterway after a dispute over cost overruns held up completion, an official said on Friday. "We expect that by Thursday we should be signing said document," Panama Canal Administrator Jorge Quijano told reporters a day after announcing a deal with the GUPC consortium, which is led by Spanish builder Sacyr and Italy's Salini Impregilo. The deal, which was outlined on Thursday…
XL Establishes Inland Marine Field Ops
To put its marine insurance experience closer to their clients, agents and brokers, the Marine insurance unit at XL Group plc (NYSE: XL) announced additional underwriting appointments further establishing its inland marine field operation. XL’s new Inland Marine Field team includes Michael Perrotti, Senior Vice President, Marine Field Operations based in Cleveland, Ken Mueller, Regional Vice President in Atlanta, and Ryan Faris, Marine Underwriter in New York. According to Richard DeSimone, President of XL’s US Ocean and Inland Marine unit, “New York, Cleveland and Atlanta are key trading hubs. With these appointments, we’re putting our inland marine underwriting expertise out in our key markets and in closer proximity to our clients.
