Loss prevention still crucial for marine insurance, IUMI told

LOSS prevention has never been more relevant for marine insurance and will become even more central in the coming period, the International Union of Marine Insurance has been told.

Pascal Dubois, chief executive of French casualty management provider Comité d'Études et de Services des Assureurs Maritimes et Transports, was speaking at a workshop at the IUMI’s conference in Singapore this morning.

“The marine insurance sector has debated loss prevention for many years. Some may question whether the concept has passed its sell-by date. But in reality, it has never been more relevant,” he argued.

He went on to highlight several big challenges facing the shipping and marine insurance industries.

These include climate change and the transition to net zero; political volatility, including both armed and economic conflicts; technological transformation, especially advances in artificial intelligence; and the availability of capital to meet the significant investment requirements for addressing these challenges.

“It is inconceivable that society — and shipping — can navigate these issues without prevention,” Dubois added.

He cited the case of vessels rerouting via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Red Sea high-risk area on account of the Houthi onslaught against merchant tonnage.

Other examples include drone-based surveys, Internet of Things-enabled real-time cargo tracking, predictive analytics to sustain traffic flows and blockchain for secure document processing.

“Prevention is about restructuring our businesses and enhancing the way we operate. We are entering a brave new world of unprecedented complexity. Embedding loss prevention into daily operations will only grow in importance.”

As shipping ramps up its decarbonisation efforts, Dubois stressed that maritime stakeholders will increasingly need to de-risk operations.

This can be achieved by fully understanding the risks and implementing robust prevention strategies.

This will provide the confidence needed for investment and transformation.