Tagged: hull market, losses, marine insurance, safety at sea, underwriters

A recent report has highlighted how the rate of total losses of marine shipping has fallen significantly over the last 100 years. “Safety and Shipping 1912-2012, from Titanic to Costa Concordia” published by Allianz Global Corporate and Speciality, focuses on losses of commercial vessels of 100GT or more since the sinking of the Titanic, and identifies key drivers of safety improvements in the shipping industry.

Over the intervening century, the world fleet has trebled in size to over 100,000 ships totalling nearly 1 billion gross tonnes, but annual losses have plummeted from a rate of 1 ship per 100 in 1912 to just 1 ship per 670 in 2009.

The report says that, “Safety has improved through a combination of technology, cultural and training improvements, and regulations, as well as through new construction and design techniques.”

This is not to say, of course, that shipping no longer faces risks. The mortality rate of seafarers is still twelve times that of the rest of the workforce and new dangers are constantly arising. “Super-sized” ships, piracy, inconsistent crewing standards and new Arctic routes are amongst the challenges and accident “black spots” continue to exist, particularly in Asia.

Allianz encourages transparent underwriting and dialogue with owners, coupled with proactive risk consultation.

FP Marine Risks also encourages its clients to actively seek advice from the marine insurance market; an unrivalled source of knowledge and experience in risk management from which shipowners can clearly benefit.

The full report is available here: http://www.agcs.allianz.com/assets/PDFs/Reports/AGCS_safety_and_shipping_report.pdf

 Print This Post