A new marine insurance facility for Ukrainian grain exports using the country’s sea corridor has been set up in conjunction with Ukraine’s authorities, insurance broker Miller said on Tuesday. Russia quit a U.N.-backed deal in July to enable exports from Ukraine to sail from three approved ports. Since then, Kyiv has launched what it calls a new temporary humanitarian corridor in an effort to break Russia’s de facto blockade. Two ships have sailed in the recent days from the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk using the channel. Securing insurance cover has ...

The Swedish Club celebrated its move into new, larger premises in Athens last week, offering the Greek shipping community a warm welcome at its Inauguration and Open House. Owners, brokers and the Club’s business partners toasted the new offices and enjoyed the Club’s hospitality. Conveniently located in Paleo Faliro, the Club’s new Greek offices are larger than its previous home. Ludvig Nyhlén, Area Manager for Team Greece explained: “This has been a very positive step for Team Greece and we are delighted to see that the move has been so ...

Shipping continues to innovate in terms of vessel capacities, greener technologies and more modern operating practices. At the same time, the way that goods are being carried, particularly unitized cargoes, are also changing. Innovation and change will inevitably bring about new risks which must be understood and mitigated with new or updated loss prevention methods. At this week’s International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) conference in Edinburgh, Chair of IUMI’s Loss Prevention Committee, Pascal Dubois highlighted this growing issue: “The sheer number of containers being carried on ships of 24,000 ...

The insurers of X-Press Pearl ship, which caught fire and sank off the western coast of Sri Lanka two years ago, have made an interim payment to the Sri Lankan government, a minister said Sunday. Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told local media that the payment will cover the cost incurred by the Maritime Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) for the beach clean-up operations and compensation for the fishermen affected by the maritime disaster. Sri Lanka’s treasury has received 890,000 U.S dollars and 16 million rupees (around 49,400 dollars) as the ...

The global supply chain is fraught with potential risks, so disputes are perhaps inevitable. The exposure to financial consequences can be minimised, however, by maintaining a robust risk mitigation policy. Risk mitigation extends not only to the proactive steps taken to improve operational safety and security, but also to ensuring, from the outset, that adequate contractual protections are in place. Supply chains are typically complex, spanning diverse jurisdictions and subject to multiple complex contractual relationships, including between the shipper, freight forwarder, shipping line, port, terminal and those providing first and ...

Digitalisation is making significant inroads into many aspects of global shipping and marine insurance must be ready to embrace this change if it is to reap the associated benefits. This was a topic of discussion at this year’s International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) conference currently underway in Edinburgh Scotland. Patrizia Kern-Ferretti, Chair of IUMI’s Big Data and Digitalisation Forum said: “It’s gratifying to see our industry continue to adopt the digitalisation process but there is concern that we might be moving too slowly. Today, we heard from the Digital ...

In the 1980s and early 1990s, the world’s merchant fleet lost 130 bulk carriers, in some tragic cases with all hands. When asked why, the philosophical answer was often “because the safety culture in the marine transport industry is reactive, slow and delayed”. The speed of response often depends directly on the pressure that results from these losses and the public perception of them. In the case of tanker accidents, images of oil-drenched seabirds trigger public outcry which greatly increases the pressure to act. After the MSC Zoe accident, pictures ...

The Club has noticed occasional misunderstandings regarding the suitable gas detection equipment needed for the transportation of Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) types A (Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI)), B, and C. In these cases, the ship’s crew mistakenly believe that gas detectors using catalytic or infrared principles would be adequate for the necessary monitoring task. The International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Code’s DRI schedules specify that one of the hazards associated with these cargoes is their potential to gradually release hydrogen upon contact with water, especially saline water. Hydrogen is ...

Use of worn mooring lines, overtightening of the brakes, or sudden movements of the ship are some of the main reasons for ropes straining beyond their breaking limits and parting. Parting of tensioned mooring lines has been associated with some of the worst human injuries, and loss of life registered in Gard’s claims portfolio. The victims are usually the crew handling the line, the winch operator and/or the supervising officer. A parting line has the potential to flex the whole distance from the place where it parts to the place ...

West P&I has been assigned a Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” (Excellent) by AM Best. The outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. AM Best commented on West’s improved underwriting result for the year-ended 20 February 2023 in which the Club achieved a 96.7% combined ratio, the strongest result for the Club since 2017, stating that the improvement in results followed actions taken by management. AM Best commented further that the A- (Excellent) rating reflects West’s “very strong” balance ...

A recent, high-profile fraud case has highlighted a number of issues that marine insurers should recognise and learn from if they are to continue to provide a comprehensive service for their assureds and retain their viability as commercial businesses. This was the topic at today’s Legal & Liability Workshop as part of IUMI’s (International Union of Marine Insurance) annual conference in Edinburgh. The workshop drew on the extremely topical and complex fraud case involving the vessel Brillante Virtuoso and took the opportunity to debate a number of reminders that marine ...

IMO’s recent strengthening of its environmental ambitions heralds a significant turning point for the shipping industry and, consequently, a heightened impact on marine insurers. In his workshop to close this year’s International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) annual conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, President Frédéric Denèfle sets out the context: “IUMI welcomes the recent announcement from IMO that GHG emissions from ships will be reduced further. New targets require net-zero emissions by close to 2050 with a 20-30% reduction by 2030 and a 70-80% reduction by 2040– from the 2008 baseline. ...

There are growing concerns within the shipping community, including marine underwriters, about fires breaking out on car carriers and roros with the assertion that many of these fires are attributable to electric vehicles. In response, the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) has researched these claims and published recommendations on the safe carriage of electric vehicles (EVs). Scientific research demonstrates that fires in battery EVs are not more dangerous than fires in conventional vehicles, nor are they more frequent. Although statistics continue to be gathered, they currently estimate that, in ...

Offshore Energy underwriters have enjoyed an upward trend in global premiums since 2019 with the 2022 premium base being reported as USD4.1 billion at this year’s International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) conference. The uplift of 7.3% was largely reflective of the oil price and the corresponding increase in offshore activity, particularly jack-ups and deep-water vessels. Inflation and its impact on asset values was also a factor. Once again, macroeconomic and geopolitical changes continued to be significant including ongoing concerns over energy security with no end in sight for the ...

Global ocean hull premiums rose in 2022 by 5.7% to reach USD8.4 billion. This was largely due to a combination of growing activity, increased vessel values and reduced market capacity. Claims for the same period remained moderate although early 2023 has witnessed a modest increase. Taken together, this has had a positive impact on overall loss ratios that have enjoyed a downward trend for the past three years with 2022 ratios starting out at the lowest point since 2015. Despite this relatively good news, inflation is likely to have a ...