When Isabelle Therrien recently took over the chair of the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) cargo committee, the most pressing issue in her in-tray was how to end the costly run of containership casualties.

Boxship fires, which have burned cargo insurers over the past two to three years, remain a problem, as evidenced by the casualty of the 2,742-teu X-Press Pearl (built 2020) this year.

But container losses at sea in heavy weather also have now started to increase during a boom in the container shipping markets.

Therrien, vice president of Falvey Cargo Underwriting, has calculated that three weather-related incidents in the Pacific this year alone involved the loss of more than 2,500 containers at an estimated value greater than $170m.

The incidents involved the 14,052-teu ONE Apus (built 2019), and the 13,092-teu Maersk Eindhoven and Maersk Essen (both built 2010).

She said it seems to be a bigger problem for insurers than shipping lines.

“It does affect us [cargo insurers] because we are paying for the losses, but in the grand scheme the losses are pretty low for the steamships, and they don’t have it on their radar as much as us,” she said.

The incidents in the Pacific come as extreme weather is increasing the risk of cargo losses.

“The risk is changing and we will have to change our predictive modelling and expect to see more of this over time,” Therrien said.

Bright spot

If there is one bright spot, it might have come from the highest-profile of containership casualties, the grounding of the 20,388-teu Ever Given (built 2018) in the Suez Canal in March.

The world-wide coverage has at least brought the cargo insurance industry into the spotlight and, in a sector where a high proportion of cargo is uninsured, made shippers more aware of their need to have the right cover in place, she said.

“Cargo insurance has never been a sexy career, but seeing this vessel on TV every day has at least brought to light what we do,” Therrien said.

“It has made our clients think about risk and brought home to them they need to have proper cover in place. You would be surprised how many don’t think about cover or don’t even have cover in place.”

The work to reduce the risk on containerships carries on at IUMI. The marine insurance grouping is looking at ways to reduce the risk through container security inspection prior to loading, correct declaration and monitoring of cargoes.

A proposal to improve containerships’ fire safety is already making its way through the International Maritime Organization.