Month: January 2019

S&P Upgrades The Swedish Club to ‘A-‘ Rating

Debra Massey

The Swedish Club is pleased to report that on January 23, 2019, S&P Global Ratings raised its insurer financial strength and issuer credit ratings on The Swedish Club to A- with stable outlook.

S&P reported that through disciplined underwriting and strong risk controls The Swedish Club has continued to record combined ratios close to 100% despite testing conditions in its main markets.  It believes that these improvements, combined with a sturdy operating performance, should enable the Club’s capital position to remain resilient to market challenges over the next 24 months.

Lars Rhodin, Managing Director of The Swedish Club is delighted with the news: “This is an important step for The Swedish Club and will enable us to further develop our growth and diversification strategies around the world.  As a mutual society this news is a testimony to the quality and support of our members and to the commitment and expertise of our team. Read more →

New Initiatives Announced to Strengthen Singapore as a Global Maritime Hub

Debra Massey

Dr Lam Pin Min, Senior Minister of State for Transport and Health, announced two initiatives for the maritime industry at the Singapore Shipping Association’s (SSA) Annual Lunar New Year Cocktail Reception yesterday evening. The two initiatives, the Singapore War Risks Insurance Conditions (SWRIC) and the development of an inter-operability framework for electronic trade documents for the maritime and trade industries, will strengthen Singapore’s standing as a leading global maritime hub.

Enhancing Singapore’s maritime insurance offerings

The SWRIC is an enhancement to the Singapore War Risks Mutual (SWRM), Singapore’s first national war risks insurance facility which was launched in 2015 as part of efforts to develop Singapore as a comprehensive marine insurance hub. Available to members of SSA irrespective of the flag of the ship, and non-members whose ships are registered in Singapore, the cover under SWRM rules includes Protection and Indemnity (P&I) war risks, hull war risks, detention and diversion expenses, sue and labour and discretionary insurance. In a short span of four years since its launch, the SWRM cover has exceeded expectations with close to 800 ships insured. Read more →

Britannia Granted Licence to Underwrite Business in Hong Kong

Phil Page

Hong Kong’s insurance regulator, the Insurance Authority (IA), has granted Britannia a licence to underwrite business from its Hong Kong office.

This positive news is in line with Britannia’s strategy of ‘think global, act local’. This has seen new Exclusive Correspondents for the Association opening in Taiwan and Denmark and the recent purchase by Tindall Riley (Britannia’s Managers) of the Britannia exclusive correspondents in Japan and Singapore as well as Tindall Riley opening an office in Greece.

Britannia is also working towards activating its licence in principle, obtained in late 2018, which will allow it to underwrite business out of Singapore. 

The Hong Kong branch office will continue to be managed by the very experienced existing team led by Tim Fuller as the Chief Executive, Richard Inman as Head of Underwriting, Gordon McGilvray as Head of Claims and Monica Kwok as Head of Finance.

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Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass) signs MoU with the Government of Assam for World Bank funded inland water transport project

Phil Page

The Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass) and the Government of Assam, a key state in India’s north-east, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further enhance the state’s inland water transport (IWT) system to improve commuter safety.The MOU follows the funding agreement between the Government of Assam and the World Bank to modernize and transform inland water transport in the state which has the largest network of navigable inland waterways in India. Plans include the integration of high quality passenger and vehicle ferry services into its wider transport network.

IRClass will be providing technical assistance to the Government of Assam including the preparation of technical specification of vessels, evaluation of shipyards bids, inspections during construction and certification.

This MOU will be administered under the guidance and initiative of the Assam Government’s Commissioner & Secretary (Transport) and IRClass will partner with Assam Inland Water Transport Development Society (AIWTDS) to support its plans.

Sr. Principal Surveyor & VP, Cdr K Dhawan, IN (Retd.) said today:

“IRClass is delighted to be part of this initiative which will raise the safety and technical standards of the state’s inland water transport system. This initiative will help boost the state’s growth with scaling opportunities including the development of IWT terminals, port townships and operation of river taxis. IRClass will soon be opening an office in Guwahati to work closely with the Assam Government in developing its inland water transport.”

 

The Swedish Club: New Lessons from Past Experiences

Debra Massey

The Swedish Club has launched its new edition of Claims at a Glance, a whistle-stop tour of cases and statistics taken from its experiences in Loss Prevention over the last three years. Claims at a Glance offers the Club’s own perspective on some of the real-life cases it has recently dealt with and provides updates on some of the Club’s key Loss Prevention publications from the last three years.

It makes interesting reading: in the time period studied the report finds that a pilot is on board ship during 30% of all collisions; 66% of all contacts and 58% of all groundings. It reports that 55% of all auxiliary engine claims occur within the first 1,000 hours of overhaul; and since the last report, you are now more likely to suffer a slip or fall on a bulk carrier than a container vessel or a tanker.

Claims at a Glance reviews both P&I and H&M issues ranging from cargo damage, navigational error and machinery through to piracy and injuries and illness. Read more →

IRClass Review of 2018 and Projections for 2019

Phil Page

The Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass) continues to record steady growth in its classed fleet, flag recognition and geographical presence, mirroring the shipping industry’s ongoing recovery.

Fleet Growth

With tankers and bulk carriers continuing to dominate IRClass’s tonnage, the classed fleet has grown more than 4% in the past year, with the foreign flag fleet seeing a particularly impressive growth of 22% which is 16% in tonnage terms and indicative of strong overseas growth. 

Flag Recognition and Geographical Presence

IRClass is now recognised by 41 flag states globally, seeing recent additions in 2018 from the Netherlands, Vietnam, Jordan and Bahrain.

Towards the end of 2018, it also received approval from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), strengthening its offshore portfolio in the Middle East and opened an office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to better service its customers in the region.

Strengthened Portfolio with Defence and Government Projects

On the domestic front, Defence continues to be a growth area for IRClass with key project wins as well as construction of Inland Waterways vessels.

These additions to IRClass’s project portfolio demonstrate the classification society’s competence and capability in handling large scale and technically challenging projects. 

Commitment towards Information Security

The ISO 27001:2013 certification awarded to IRClass for its Information Security Management System from the British Standards Institution (BSI), underscores the classification society’s commitment towards risk management. It inspires confidence in IRClass’s level of data protection, assuring customers that their information is well-protected.

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