• Port security continues to be a problem. Photo: JD Mack

    Security that's fit for purpose

    2013-10-10T01:00:00+01:00

    Ports and terminals are increasingly being drawn into the purview of private maritime security companies, as such contractors seek to strengthen their links with the insurance market.

  • CTA Hamburg has been praised for its green strategy. Credit: Riko Jennrich

    Baby steps on energy strategies

    2013-09-11T00:00:00+01:00

    All the leading ports groups seem to have got the message that they need to manage energy consumption on sustainability principles, but action is still in its infancy.

  • Those who sign insurance cheques for ports might be pleasantly surprised by the next renewal figures

    Insurance comfort for the bottom line

    2013-07-11T09:00:00+01:00

    At first glance, the prospects of keeping their insurance spend at current levels might seem slim for executives in the ports and terminals industry; the recent series of high-profile natural catastrophes could encourage underwriters to seek dearer premiums at renewals.

  • The superpowers are keen to assert strategic interests in the Arctic

    Don't get caught out in the cold

    2013-06-20T11:58:00+01:00

    Eyes are looking north to a vast region of lucrative international trade promise – a region served rudimentarily for the most part by seaports. The superpowers are becoming ever keener to assert their strategic interests in the warming Arctic.

  • An unscheduled 'Emma Maersk' visit kept SCCT on its toes

    Bigger ships, bigger headaches

    2013-05-09T14:36:00+01:00

    A heavy soup of responsibilities and liabilities mixes into today''s vast port projects, insurance experts have warned.

  • Fostering a 'comfortable relationship' with port insureds is still critical

    Shake-up brings benefits for ports

    2013-04-24T10:22:00+01:00

    RaetsMarine talks to James Brewer following the company''s takeover by Lloyd''s group Amlin

  • Sandy has blown out of the water the assumptions drawn by analysts from their catastrophe modelling. Credit: Zoriah

    Expect more Sandy-type storms

    2013-03-25T16:14:00+00:00

    It will take a long time for the tailwinds of post-tropical cyclone (that is what it was, not a hurricane) Sandy to die down.

  • Africa is not known for its efficiency

    Africa tackles its risk culture

    2013-01-24T13:57:00+00:00

    While cost-cutting at ports in much of the world is leading to fears that risk management standards will fall, there appears to be brighter hope on that front in parts of Africa.

  • Cracking maritime disputes

    2012-11-29T10:00:00+00:00

    When it comes to disputes, winning a case is just the start of the battle. In the maritime world, very often the ruling, or award in the case of arbitration, has to be enforced in a different jurisdiction, and that is where local legal knowledge – and enormous reserves of ...

  • Power blackouts caused by Sandy have far-reaching insurance ramifications. Credit: Lazer Cam

    The ripple effect of storm Sandy

    2012-11-22T14:00:00+00:00

    "We never expected the Hudson River to come up this far..." That has been the lament of hundreds of residents and business owners on the east coast of the US, struck by the chaos of cyclone Sandy.

  • Equipment losses still threaten port operations. Credit: Keith Evans

    Sleepless nights on crane collisions

    2012-10-25T10:00:00+01:00

    A nightmare scenario came true for port operators and insurers alike four years ago, in the form of a major accident in the UK involving both merchandised and land-based cranes.

  • Insurance premiums - all a storm in a teacup?

    Stormy weather fails to dampen prospects

    2012-09-20T10:30:00+01:00

    Hurricane Ernesto, Typhoon Haikui, Typhoon Damrey, Typhoon Saola. That grim quartet struck in the space of just a few days of August, bringing destruction to parts of Central America in the first instance, and heavy flooding in the Far East in the rest. Earlier in the year, tornadoes brought havoc ...

  • The marine insurance market is now more international than ever. Credit: E01

    Not as 'London' as it used to be

    2012-07-26T11:31:00+01:00

    How fares the London marine insurance market? Generally as active and influential as ever, it seems, although it is not as ‘London’ as it used to be.

  • Accenture believes that Shanghai and others must focus on core competencies

    A sea of change in China

    2012-06-14T14:49:00+01:00

    “Reaching the world from northeast China: Port of Dandong,” booms a voice from the television in my hotel room in Shanghai, where I have arrived to spend time with people from the city’s Maritime University, one of the shipping world’s great educational institutions.

  • Lloyd's losses have sent jitters through the reinsurance market

    Reinsurers open premium hike floodgates

    2012-05-09T10:00:00+01:00

    The earth is certainly moving under the insurance market, as a result of the natural catastrophes of the past year and a half, and the port industry will suffer as a result.