Fewer losses in shipping industry but challenges remain

Marine insurer Allianz says crew negligence and inadequate vessel maintenance are increasing areas of concern, as economic pressures challenge budgets

Published Tue, Jun 20, 2017 · 09:50 PM

Strait Talk

MARINE insurers have as good a perspective as any on the health of the shipping industry, for the very good reason that they have to pay up when things go wrong.

So it is worth paying attention when major insurer Allianz says that, while shipping losses continue to decline, a "perfect storm" of regulation, cost savings and cybersecurity looms.

The Allianz Safety & Shipping Review 2017 says that 85 ships (of over 100 gross tonnage) were lost worldwide in 2016, which was down 50 per cent compared to 10 years earlier. That is good news. The not so good news for The Business Times readers is that South China and South-east Asian waters are the top loss locations, although the East Mediterranean replaces the British Isles as the top incident hotspot.