As ships continue to come under missile attack off Yemen, shipowners’ rights to divert from the Red Sea will be one of the key issues to be debated by leading protection and indemnity executives at the annual International P&I seminar in Piraeus.
Although the current Red Sea troubles are more a war risk insurance than a P&I issue, the right to divert is a burning concern for shipowner members of the mutual clubs.
It is likely to put owners and charterers in dispute and become a matter for P&I clubs’ legal freight defence and demurrage departments.
Every year, just a few weeks before the 20 February policy renewal, all the leading P&I clubs gather at the Piraeus Marine Club to attend the event, arranged by broker Evmar Marine Services’ Maria Prevezanou.
Another critical issue that will be debated at the 1 February event is whether individual clubs’ retention level for the International Group P&I Clubs pool claims should be raised above $10m.
Currently, International Group members each meet the costs of claims up to $10m, with anything above that level shared between the group’s members and its reinsurers.
Some of the International Group’s members can afford to retain more of the cost of claims on their books, but that could be difficult for smaller clubs to handle.
Britannia P&I chief executive Andrew Cutler, who also chairs the International Group, will also argue the case for P&I clubs to be more proactive in supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
