Club’s correspondents in China (Huatai Marine) have issued a circular outlining the regulations on the discharge of food wastes in Chinese waters and the administrative fines for non-compliance. According to Huatai’s database, approximately 23% of garbage disposal fines handled in 2020-2022 were for illegally dumping food waste. The Bohai Sea accounted for 70% of them, with the Yellow, East, and South China Seas each accounting for 10%. The maximum fine was CNY 70,000, and the minimum was CNY 30,000. The average fine was CNY43,000 per case. As per an analysis ...

The UK Defence Club has announced that it has appointed Paul Herring to the newly created position of Legal Director as of 20th September, 2022. In this role, Paul will focus on growing the Club’s international footprint and on thought leadership in a number of areas, including decarbonisation. Reporting to Club Chief Executive, Daniel Evans, Paul spent 43 years at Ince law firm during which time he became a leading expert in many areas of shipping law, particularly in charterparty, carriage of goods by sea, newbuilding and MOA related disputes ...

“ Good shipowners – and that’s the vast majority – have long treated crews well and respected the oceans and should not be fazed by a buzzword that encapsulates best practice.” While ESG may have come last on the list of broker Marsh’s recent report on contributing factors for owners when choosing a P&I provider, this comes as no surprise as there is still a lack of awareness in the industry. Gina went on to explain how the Club has a strong track record in ESG initiatives – one of ...

The UK P&I Club, one of the leading providers of P&I insurance and other services to the international shipping community, has announced Seán Geraghty will become the new Regional Director in its Greek office in November, while Daniel Evans will move from Greece to London to focus on the continued development of the UK Defence Club. Reporting to Chief Executive Officer Andrew Taylor, Seán Geraghty moves from the Hong Kong office where he served as the UK Club’s Senior Claims Director and Regional Syndicate Manager since 2014. Meanwhile David Harley ...

Our PEME scheme is focused on ensuring that members receive seafarers’ PEME certificates that they can trust and that preventable claims are kept to a minimum. Members benefit from having a higher level of knowledge regarding a potential, allowing for an informed decision to be taken about whether to employ a seafarer aboard a vessel. Seafarers benefit from participation in the scheme by taking advantage of medical treatment/advice which can extend their careers, especially in the case of untreated chronic illness. Source: The Standard Club

The Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance create a common global baseline for assessing and disclosing the alignment of marine insurance portfolios with climate goals. “We are delighted to be the first Asian marine hull insurance company to sign up for the Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance (PPMI). Joining PPMI is aligned with Cosco Shipping Group and Cosco Shipping Captive’s strategy towards green shipping and green finance. We are happy and motivated to work with all stakeholders to promote marine de-carbonization and marine industry’s sustainable transition and growth,” says Zheng Xiaozhe, ...

On 22 July, the Republic of Turkey, Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the United Nations signed the Initiative on the safe export of foodstuffs and fertilizers, including ammonia, from the Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. As of 14 September, the total tonnage of grain and other foodstuffs exported from the three ports is just over 3 million metric tons. A total of 297 voyages (161 inbound and 136 outbound) have been enabled so far due to the successful operation of the initiative. So far, 53% of the cargo ...

Loss prevention strategies for wind powered and unmanned vessels, new cargoes such as electrical vehicles have quickly moved “out of the laboratory and in the real world,” says IUMI’s Loss Prevention Committee chairperson Pascal Dubois. Speaking at the International Union of Marine Insurers (IUMI) annual conference in Chicago, he told delegates that the collaboration and detailed work undertaken by the marine insurance industry over the past three years are quickly resulting in improvements to operating and safety practices. Key to success has been the sharing of data by all stakeholders. ...

The Shipowners’ Club, the leading P&I insurer in the smaller and specialist vessel sector, has reported financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2022 The Club has reported a combined ratio of 96.2% which was in line with budget. The underwriting result of a US$ 4.3m surplus has been driven by 8% growth in earned income compared to the first half of 2021 and a 2% reduction in overall claims costs. These positive variances have been sufficient to more than absorb higher expected costs in the areas of ...

The marine insurance industry needs to embrace data better if it is to successfully implement ESG aspirations, says Patrizia Kern, Chairperson of IUMI’s Data & Digitalization Forum. Speaking at IUMI’s conference in Chicago, she told the audience of underwriters that whilst more data on assureds’ activity is available, it needs to be consistent, reliable, relevant and provable to be of use. She said: “ESG is here to stay: over 92% of the S&P Global 500 companies now report on their ESG metrics and marine insurers are catching up fast. But ...

The International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) is introducing a new Masterclass in Cargo Insurance. The programme will take place in London in March 2023 and will have a strong focus on key principles and practices of cargo insurance. It is IUMI’s first in-person training course. Designed to deliver an advanced level of learning, the course has been created by cargo insurance experts to widen participants’ understanding and expertise in this field. IUMI’s Masterclass in Cargo Insurance is aimed at senior underwriters and executives who want to expand their knowledge ...

The International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) reports an increase in the 2021 cargo insurance premium base (from 2020) of 8% to USD 18.9 billion alongside an improvement in overall loss ratios. Speaking at this year’s Chicago conference, Isabelle Therrien, Chairperson of the IUMI Cargo Committee said: “The cargo market has shown growth in 2021 partly due to a rise in the volume of cargo shipped globally combined with the pricing corrective measure still prevalent in that underwriting year. The much-needed correction has yielded favourable underwriting performance. However, the industry ...

On 19 September 2022 the EU further amended its FAQS clarifying the application of provisions relating to the carriage of certain cargoes from Russia, including coal and other solid fossil fuels as well as certain types of fertilizer. Contrary to the position taken by the EU in August, the FAQs now make it clear that the transport of coal and certain specified goods in Annex XXI of Council Regulation 833/2014 (and related insurance) is in fact not prohibited when the goods are being carried to third countries. The relevant amended ...

The fifth annual Global Maritime Issues Monitor reveals that senior maritime decision-makers believe the maritime industry will be most impacted by the decarbonization of shipping and new environmental regulations in the next decade. At the same time, geopolitical issues and workforce and skill shortages rise in prominence as an area of concern. The Global Maritime Issues Monitor measures the temperature among senior maritime stakeholders on key issues likely to impact the sector in the next ten years, and the industry’s preparedness to face them. Jointly published by the Global Maritime ...

Opening this year’s IUMI (International Union of Marine Insurance) annual conference in Chicago, President Richard Turner introduced “Adapting to a World in Transition” as this year’s conference theme, highlighting the impact of climate, asset, macroeconomic and geopolitical changes on marine insurers, the clients they support and IUMI itself. Addressing the 585 attendees he said: “The growing climate emergency, the rise of protectionism affecting international trade and the emergence of data and technology as a driver of huge change in all sectors have different ramifications for the world, international trade and ...