Insurance Policies News

The owner, operator and charterer of the container ship that struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday are likely to face lawsuits over its collapse and the people killed or injured, but legal experts say U.S. maritime law could limit the companies’ liability.U.S. laws pertaining to open-water navigation and shipping, which are created through court decisions and by acts of Congress, could restrict the kinds of lawsuits filed against the registered owner of the Singapore-flagged ship…

A deal allowing Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea will expire at the end of Monday after Russia said it will suspend its participation.The deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, aimed to alleviate a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain blocked by the Russia-Ukraine conflict to be exported safely.WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?Ukraine is a major producer of grains and oilseeds and the interruption to its exports at the outbreak of war pushed global food prices to record highs.

A deal allowing Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea expires on July 17 and with Moscow saying it sees no grounds for an extension there are fears it may collapse.Why is it important?Ukraine is a major producer of grains and oilseeds and the interruption to its exports at the outbreak of war pushed global food prices to record highs. The current deal, agreed in July 2022 some five months after the war started, helped to bring down prices and ease a global food crisis.Ukraine grain has also played a direct role with 725…

Costs for hiring ships to transport commodities from the Black Sea have risen by more than a fifth since the start of the year, reflecting higher war risk insurance rates, industry sources said.The Black Sea is crucial for the shipment of grain, oil and oil products. Its waters are shared by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania and Turkey, as well as Russia and Ukraine. Since Jan. 1, when policies are renewed, reinsurers that provide financial protection for insurance companies have added exclusions for ships and planes for Belarus…

Turkey emerged as a critical stumbling block to a complex international plan to deprive Russia of wartime oil revenues as the number of tankers waiting to exit the Black Sea through Turkish straits continued to rise on Friday.Ankara has declined to scrap a new insurance inspection rule it implemented at the beginning of the month despite days of pressure from Western officials frustrated by the policy.A total of 28 oil tankers are in a queue seeking to leave the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, the Tribeca shipping agency said on Friday.G7 wealthy countries, the European Union and Australia agreed to bar providers of shipping services…

The Group of Seven countries' price cap on Russian oil is not responsible for a queue of tankers waiting in the Black Sea to pass through Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait on the way to the Mediterranean, the European Commission said. The number of vessels queuing in the Black Sea increased on Friday to 20, according to the Tribeca shipping agency, amid talks to disperse the build-up. Since the start of the month, Turkey has required vessels to provide proof of insurance covering their transit through the Bosphorus strait or when calling at Turkish ports, which is causing a logjam.

A ship financier’s primary security is the mortgaged ship. If the ship becomes a total loss, the mortgage will provide no valuable security, leaving the financier to rely on its rights as assignee and loss payee (and occasionally as co-assured) under the shipowner’s marine insurance policies. However, the owner’s insurers may decline a claim, for example on grounds of breach of warranty or material non-disclosure, or because the loss is not covered by the policy, such as where the owner scuttles the mortgaged ship.

Russia's shipping trade has plummeted since Moscow's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions push many foreign companies to suspend sailings, adding further pressure on the country's economy, according to freight data.The world's biggest foreign container lines—including the top three MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM and others such as Hapag Lloyd—have temporarily suspended cargo shipments to and from Russia, while multiple companies including home furnishings firm IKEA have shut stores.Food companies Nestle…

The six-day blockage of the Suez Canal by the Ever Given has resulted in numerous trade and supply chain disruptions for businesses that depend on timely shipments. At least 400 cargo ships were stuck and many forced to reroute. Businesses may be protected from lost profits and the costs of these interruptions and supply chain delays by insurance.Businesses that depend on the Suez Canal to deliver their cargo, commodities and products face billions of dollars of lost profits and damages.

The lucrative prospect of transporting COVID-19 vaccines by sea has intensified the spotlight on the maritime industry’s cold supply chain and its ability to carry high-value pharmaceuticals.At present, speed to market is critical to stemming the spread of the pandemic, so the vaccines are being shipped by air to international destinations. Delivering them by sea is a longer-term strategy; certainly, the present urgency would have to calm considerably before enough confidence could be built to support delivery times in weeks…

Shipping was on the move again late on Monday in Egypt's Suez Canal after tugs refloated a giant container ship which had been blocking the channel for almost a week, causing a huge build-up of vessels around the waterway.With the 400-meter-long (430-yard) Ever Given dislodged, 113 ships were expected to transit the canal in both directions by early Tuesday morning, Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chairman Osama Rabie told reporters.He said a backlog of 422 ships could be cleared in 3 -1/2 days.The Ever Given had become jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal…

The lucrative prospect of transporting COVID-19 vaccines by sea has intensified the spotlight on the maritime industry’s cold supply chain and its ability to carry high-value pharmaceuticals.At present, speed to market is critical to stemming the spread of the pandemic, so the vaccines are being shipped by air to international destinations. Delivering them by sea is a longer-term strategy; certainly, the present urgency would have to calm considerably before enough confidence could be built to support delivery times in weeks…

Cyber-attacks on the maritime industry’s operational technology (OT) systems have increased by 900% over the last three years with the number of reported incidents set to reach record volumes by year end.Addressing port and terminal operators during an online forum last week, Robert Rizika, Naval Dome’s Boston-based Head of North American Operations, explained that in 2017 there were 50 significant OT hacks reported, increasing to 120 in 2018 and more than 310 last year. He said this year is looking like it will end with more than 500 major cyber security breaches…

The IMO January 2021 deadline for shipping interests to incorporate cyber risk management into their existing Safety Management Systems is fast approaching. It is critical that stakeholders understand their vulnerabilities. The IMO has issued MSC-FAL.1/Circ.3 guidelines on maritime cyber risk management that does a good job of outlining the many vulnerable systems within marine operations, including:1.Bridge systems;2. Cargo handling and management systems;3.Propulsion and machinery management and power control systems;4.

Imperial Logistics is joining a new industrial initiative as one of its founding members. The consortium is called +D (plusdecentral) and aims to build a cross-company transaction protocol bringing automation and new business models to the Supply Chain.With this new decentralised infrastructure, it will be possible to digitize and automatically manage tasks such as transport contracts, insurance policies, tracking consignments, editing documents, settling damage claims and payment transactions.The protocol follows an open-source approach and is designed to guarantee a smooth exchange of information and value between all the participants in the supply chain. Main technologies are Blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence.

Technology helps maritime companies do more with less. But today, technological advances are outstripping legal developments. As a result, many marine-based businesses operate in a legal limbo with many lawyers and insurance professionals confused about what laws will apply to what claims. While sometimes philosophical, the problem of what law will apply becomes stark and very real when a worker is injured. We live in a golden age of maritime technological development as we learn to use our oceans, lakes, rivers and coastlines in new and unique ways.

The right insurance policy could help you stay above water after a workplace incident. The day-to-day job of marine construction workers has many potential hazards. While restoring shorelines, dredging harbors, repairing bridges and building docks, they often operate heavy machinery. Manning cranes, forklifts and excavators day or night, it is not uncommon to work in sweltering heat, freezing cold temperatures and an array of other challenging weather conditions. With all of this in mind…

Global shipping is still feeling the effects of a cyber attack that hit A.P. Moller-Maersk two days ago, showing the scale of the damage a computer virus can unleash on the technology dependent and inter-connected industry. About 90 percent of world trade is transported by sea, with ships and ports acting as the arteries of the global economy. Ports increasingly rely on communications systems to keep operations running smoothly, and any IT glitches can create major disruptions for complex logistic supply chains. The cyber attack was among the biggest-ever disruptions to hit global shipping.

Ships exposed through GPS systems, have limited back-up; cyber insurance typically doesn't cover jamming, property damage. Shipping companies grappling with the threat of cyber attacks on vessels are finding insurance policies often fall short, officials involved in both industries say, a risk that could feed through into global prices. Digitalisation means electricity networks, emergency services, industry and agriculture are all vulnerable to hacking by criminal gangs for extortion or, for political reasons, by militant groups or foreign states. But ships are also exposed to interference through electronic navigation devices such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) and lack the backup systems airliners have to prevent crashes.

In October 2013, a fire blazed through Brazil’s Santos port, destroying six warehouses and the 180,000 tons of raw sugar inside Sugar Company Copersucar’s terminal. The fire hit all of the sugar giant’s warehouses at the port and left many exporters holding contracts for sugar with an empty bag. Following the fire, Copersucar declared “force majeure” to third party exporters who had contracts to ship the sugar through the now-burned terminal. Force majeure is a legal term referring…

In general, the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) welcomes the revised York-Antwerp Rules (YAR 2016) which were adopted by the Comité Maritime International (CMI) at its conference in New York last week. The York-Antwerp Rules (YAR) is a set of rules by which General Average (GA) is adjusted (see detailed explanation in the notes below). IUMI has a particular interest in their content as, on average, the GA system increases the cost of maritime casualties by between 10%-30% largely due to interest (7% p.a. under the 1994 and 1974 YAR), commission (2%) on nearly all expenses and sacrifices, and adjusters' fees. The process of collecting GA security from all the cargo interests…

Patent trolls—those who seek to enforce patent rights, but do not actually manufacture or supply services based on the patents—are a problem in all industries, including the shipping industry. And as the pace of innovation in shipping continues to accelerate in areas such as environmental compliance, electronic navigation, vessel design, construction and operation, offshore construction and exploration, and cargo logistics management, claims by patent trolls are sure to rise. It is not just companies who design and sell products in the maritime sector who are at risk.

Whether voluntarily or as required by the International Safety Management Code, the American Waterways Operators’ (AWO) Responsible Carrier Program, or some other rule or regulation, investigations of accidents and near-miss situations are routinely conducted by companies in the maritime industry. This is due to the widespread recognition that careful examination of the root causes of such incidents can help to prevent future occurrences. Faulty procedures, defective equipment, and inadequate training can all be identified in the investigation exercise.