Foreign companies are being advised to prepare for ongoing volatility in the Middle East, but the risk of a wider conflict involving Iran appears to have receded for now, according to political risk experts. However, insurance premiums will rise exponentially in marine and other lines for companies operating in the region, according to law firm DWF Recent weeks have seen dramatic…
The UK P&I Club has appointed Captain Kostas Karavasilis as senior loss prevention executive in its Greek office. Based at the firm’s Piraeus office in Greece, Captain Karavasilis joins the UK P&I Club from a local hull insurer, where he spent ten years as claims manager. Captain Karavasilis will report to Stuart Edmonston, loss prevention director at the P&I club,…
The Middle East crisis will see premiums rise exponentially in marine and other lines for companies operating in the region, according to law firm DWF. Jonathan Moss, head of marine and trade at DWF, said: “The latest chapter of turbulence in the Middle East will undoubtedly lead to insurers and reinsurers – particularly in lines such as hull, war, piracy,…
Marine hull and international casualty binders will be the first classes to pilot the modernised syndication programme at Lloyd’s, one of the cornerstones of the Future at Lloyd’s blueprint to reform and modernise. The classes, selected by Lloyd’s and the Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA), will test new standards and an accreditation process for leaders and followers to ultimately simplify the…
The Joint War Committee (JWC), the body that comprises London market marine hull underwriting representatives, told Commercial Risk Europe that it sees no “dramatic change” to the risk exposure of shipping in the Gulf region despite rapidly escalating tensions between the US and Iran. Its statement follows the killing of Major General Qassim Suleimani, the leading figure in Iran’s foreign-facing intelligence and…
Lloyd’s managing agency Neon Underwriting is being placed into run-off by its US owner American Financial Group (AFG). AFG said Neon has “failed to achieve” profitability objectives since it acquired the business as Marketform in 2008. In particular, AFG said Neon’s results prospects for 2019 and 2020 fall below its expectations. Marketform relaunched as Neon in 2016 with a book…
The president of Swedish risk management association Swerma has called on the insurance industry to improve product development and boost innovation, while encouraging risk managers to up their game as the market hardens. Swerma president Athina Pehrmantold CRE that innovative product development is the number one area in which risk managers would like insurers to improve and put in more…
New International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations on fuel and emissions will create “unique challenges” for maritime operators in 2020, according to UK P&I Club’s Stuart Edmonston. Operators will need to comply with IMO 2020 rules that cap sulphur content used in fuel and come into force on 1 January. “From a loss-prevention perspective, the most obvious discussion point for 2020…
Europe is losing market share of global marine business to Asia, which is proving to be strong competition for the Lloyd’s and London market, according to a new statistical report by the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI). In 2018, marine premiums totalled $28.9bn, up just 1%, and European underwriters accounted for the majority of business at 46%, with Asian…
The buzz around autonomous shipping could be premature, with the adoption of fully automated ships likely to take decades rather than years, according to law firm Kennedys. The legal and regulatory obstacles are too substantial for autonomy to reach its full potential any time soon, the law firm said. Regulatory standards led by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the…