Month: December 2018

Britannia Member Survey Reveals 97% are Proud to be Members

Phil Page

Britannia’s first online Member Survey has been published, with 97% of the Members taking part being proud to be a Member of the Club.

Overall 70% felt Britannia’s core values could be summed up with the words ‘trusted’ and ‘mutual’, with the Club’s main strengths listed as ‘financially secure’ ‘excellent claims service’ and ‘valued relationships with Members’.

An impressive 100% of Members that took part in the survey felt valued as a Member of Britannia, which is testament to the strong service delivery and sound financial status (echoed by the Club recently having its rating ‘A’ (stable) re-affirmed by S&P Global Ratings).

The survey also highlighted areas that could be improved, including streamlining access to claims records, transaction history and financial documents. The Club is already underway with implementing solutions to improve these areas by developing more efficient systems and processes as part of the on-going IT upgrade.

A more detailed look into specific departments revealed that the Claims Reimbursements section had a 94% satisfaction rating when Members were asked if their reimbursements were received either on or ahead of expectations.

Other response times to general requests within Claims were either within or exceeded expectations. However, 15% of respondents felt that sometimes the Club could react more quickly to a request. So, although the result is very positive, the Club is reviewing its processes to identify where it can improve on its speed of service.

Regarding the Underwriting department, 95% of survey respondents felt that the Underwriters’ approach is fair with 91% satisfied that they received a responsive solution. An impressive 95% felt that vessel documentation from the department was always accurate.

Read more →

Columbia Takes Optimisation To The Next Level With Opening Of Its Performance Optimisation Control Room

Phil Page

Columbia Shipmanagement formally opened its high-tech Performance Optimisation Control Room on Friday 14 December in Cyprus. The opening ceremony was attended by Ms Natasa Pilides, Deputy Minister of Shipping, Republic of Cyprus.

The focus of the Control Room is on Performance Optimisation. When full functionality roll-out is complete, the Control Room will be manned 24/7 by qualified personnel who will optimise vessel safety, crew rotation and training, performance (speed, consumption, delay, weather routing), disaster avoidance, maintenance (including preventative maintenance through sensor and camera technology), and contractual compliance. Web-based, it can be easily uploaded to other Columbia offices and clients’ offices allowing remote monitoring.

Captain Pankaj Sharma, Manager of the Control Room, is a project management professional with years of experience managing control rooms. Mr Sharma commented: “Centralising our operations will give us the ability to better deal with fast-changing scenarios and developments as they happen. With 24/7/365 support, our goal is to have even faster decision-making and greater visibility by using modern technology to achieve cost-efficient vessel operations.”

The Control Room will be a management hub, seamlessly connecting to technical, marine, crew and commercial management departments and functions.

Columbia’s President Mark O’Neil in his opening address stated: “This project has been made possible through the excellent collaboration and support of our project partners Tototheo Maritime,” adding, “It is a visible and tangible example of how digitalisation and technology can be harnessed for optimisation of vessel operation and management. Not only will it make us more attractive to our clients and potential clients, it will also make our clients more attractive to the market through optimised operation. The Performance Optimisation Control Room demonstrates Columbia’s commitment to its clients and to the provision of a thoroughly modern, digitalised and optimised service.” 
Read more →

The Swedish Club Maintains Zero Per Cent General Increase

Debra Massey

For the fourth year in succession The Swedish Club has announced a zero per cent general increase for the forthcoming P&I year.

The decision was made by the Club’s board in consideration of the general market view that premiums are not in proportion with expected claims outcome.

Lars Rhodin, Managing Director of The Swedish Club says: “In a number of shipping sectors the market remains weak and we have a commitment to support members at this crucial point. Read more →

Indian Register of Shipping wins two prestigious awards at separate ceremonies

Phil Page

Leading classification society Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass), won ‘Classification Society of the Year’ award at the Samudra Manthan Awards ceremony on 5 December, and on another occasion, the ‘Indywood Excellence Award for Professional Achievement – Class Compliance’ was bestowed upon Mr. Suresh Sinha, Managing Director of IRClass, recognising his efforts towards the development of the classification society landscape within the maritime sector.

The Indywood Excellence Awards 2018 (Marine / Offshore / Oil & Gas) were held at HITEX Exhibition Centre in Hyderabad on 2nd December, and this year’s Samudra Manthan Awards took place on 5th December at Sahara Star in Mumbai, India.

This marks the second occasion the classification society has been named the classification society of the year – where this year, the criterion for selection included digitalisation initiatives, cyber security, maritime research and industry projects.

Mr. Sinha said: “I am humbled to be bestowed with the Indywood Excellence Award, but the real winner is the team of committed and dedicated employees of IRClass globally; who have been instrumental in expanding the classification society within the marine and oil & gas sectors. I would like to congratulate each one of them for the hard work.”

He added: “This validates the work we have been doing for our valued clients and spurs us to further raise our service standards and to help the marine as well as oil & gas industries to cope with the new dynamics of the digital ecosystem in a changing shipping landscape.”

Tindall Riley to sell its Carina Fixed P&I Product to The MECO Group

Phil Page

Following a strategic review of its operations, Tindall Riley (TR) has agreed to sell Carina, its fixed premium P&I Managing General Agent (MGA), to The MECO Group for an undisclosed sum. Set up by TR in 2012, Carina is a successful and well managed specialised fixed premium P&I provider.

The terms of sale are agreed, but the transfer will only complete once all the regulatory and underwriting approvals have been received, which is scheduled before the end of 2018.

The focus of the parties has been on ensuring a seamless transfer, based on a ‘business as usual’ approach, under which the current Carina team will transfer across to MECO and continue to run Carina as part of the MECO Group. They will continue to offer clients the same first-class service and transactional efficiency in their new home.

From the date of transfer, Carina will become a MECO brand and MECO will assume TR’s role as the MGA that owns and operates Carina. MECO will take over all TR’s responsibilities as Managers of Carina and the existing Carina team will relocate to MECO’s London office. With effect from the date of transfer, MECO will take sole responsibility for current policies and all prior years.

The underlying security of Carina, as a Lloyd’s based product, will remain unchanged.

Commenting on the transaction Simon Scriven, Chairman of TR said:

“Carina has performed well in a challenging cycle, the decision to sell was not an easy one, but we concluded that despite its success, operating Carina as an MGA was not in-line with our key strategic objectives as one of the leading mutual management operations. We chose MECO Group as the new home for the Carina team because it is the oldest and most well-respected marine MGA in London.” 

Christopher Else, CEO of the MECO Group commented as follows:

“The acquisition of Carina represents a big step in the development of the MECO Group. Carina is a strong brand managed by an experienced and professional team that will fit well within the MECO Group. The last few years have been challenging in the marine insurance industry, but all our brands have been profitable during turbulent times and in a fast-changing market, the opportunities for expansion are genuinely exciting. The acquisition of Carina is just one example of how the MECO Group is well placed to grow in the current climate.”

Thome’s Chairman Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Phil Page

Olav Eek Thorstensen, Executive Chairman of the Thome Group, received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Tanker Shipping and Trade’s annual conference held in London on 20-21 November.

Looking back over his 50 years in the maritime industry, Mr Eek Thorstensen recalled the early days of third party ship management and how he realised that Thome could offer more efficient services to owners trading vessels in the Far East. So began Thome’s growth in that sector which continues to this day.

He also paid tribute to his staff recognising that the success of the Thome Group is not down to just one person and that every employee has contributed with dedication and hard work.

Looking to the future he predicted that, within the next 10 years, there would be fundamental changes in the structure of ship owning with an increase in vessels being owned by asset management companies which bodes well for third party ship managers as their expertise will be required to run these fleets.

In conclusion, he stated that he cherishes all his memories of working in such a dynamic industry and thanked the organisers for recognising him in this way.

Read more →