Seacurus debates MLC abandonment insurance issues with UK Trade Minister

During a recent tour of north-east England, Lord Livingston, the UK’s Minister for Trade and Investment, visited the Gateshead headquarters of Seacurus which, in April 2013, launched CrewSEACURE, the first ever insurance policy designed exclusively to protect the rights of seafarers when ships are abandoned at sea.

Seacurus has a well-established relationship with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), having received expert advice and support from its Passport to Export scheme which helped the company to develop 99 per cent of its insurance premium income from overseas markets. As such, Seacurus was selected as one of only three companies in the north-east of England to meet with the minister.

Commenting on the visit, Thomas Brown, managing director of Seacurus, said, “I am delighted to have had the opportunity to meet with Lord Livingston and to discuss with him our work with the international shipping industry to deliver bespoke insurance solutions.

“While Seacurus is a relatively small organisation, our market expertise, willingness to innovate and commitment to serving the marine sector has enabled us to secure a prominent position in the global market, to deliver important marine insurance solutions that tackle difficult modern day problems such as piracy and seafarer abandonment. The recent acquisition of our company by the Barbican Insurance Group can only serve to enhance our global reach.”

During the visit, Lord Livingston heard about recent international regulatory developments affecting the rights of seafarers in cases of abandonment. Commenting on these discussions, Thomas Brown said, “Such regulatory developments have a positive effect on the welfare of 1.2 million seafarers serving at sea today and Seacurus is leading the development of bespoke insurance solutions to address the specific needs of the Maritime Labour Convention in this regard.

“We are proud to be a part of the UK-based insurance industry that has a long history of world-leading innovation. Through CrewSEACURE, we have provided the shipping industry with a cost-effective means of meeting all its financial security obligations under the Maritime Labour Convention, and we hope that it will become an integral part of the industry’s efforts to protect its seafarers.”

Seacurus Ltd, part of the Barbican Insurance Group, is an FCA-regulated insurance broker founded in 2004, specialising in bespoke revenue protection cover for the maritime industry. It is a market leader in the design and implementation of solutions to protect companies from unforecasted balance-sheet impacts, including credit default, charter party cancellations, hijackings and voyage disruptions caused by political events. Seacurus established the first delegated underwriting binding authority for marine kidnap insurance and is an approved Lloyd’s Coverholder. www.seacurus.com

Formed in 2007, Barbican Insurance Group underwrites business predominantly through its syndicates at Lloyd’s. It also has a non-Lloyd’s financial solutions business based in Guernsey which offers insurance and reinsurance programmes to the global market, and a number of service companies including Barbican Underwriting Limited, Castel Underwriting Agencies Limited, Professional Indemnity Protect Limited and Seacurus Limited.

Barbican Syndicates at Lloyd’s have a stamp capacity of £250m for the 2014 year of account and underwrite marine, aviation and transport re/insurance, property re/insurance and specialty lines, including casualty reinsurance, cyber liability, healthcare liability, financial and professional lines and professional indemnity.

Seacurus welcomes new Lloyd’s seafarer abandonment risk code

SPECIALIST marine insurance intermediary Seacurus has welcomed the decision of Lloyd’s to amend its risk codes to include a new class of insurance covering seafarer abandonment (SA).

Lloyd’s provides guidance to underwriters on the classification of business into various categories using a risk coding scheme which provides a common basis for the classification and description of risk. Thomas Brown, managing director of UK-based Seacurus, says, “This new class of insurance is very welcome and very timely. Seafarer Abandonment (SA) is classed as financial guarantee insurance, meaning that any Lloyd’s syndicate wanting to write it will need approval from the Lloyd’s performance directorate to do so. Seacurus, acting as the managing general underwriter for Lloyd’s Brit Syndicate under a fully delegated underwriting authority, has that approval.”

Last month, Seacurus launched CrewSEACURE, a new insurance policy to indemnify seafarers in the event of the financial default of their employers which, for the first time, offers recompense in respect of unpaid crew wages. The policy will enable all employers of seafarers to meet their regulatory obligations under the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC), which enters force on 20 August, 2013.

Thomas Brown says, “MLC 2006 recognises the need to ensure that seafarer recruitment and manning agencies do not supply seafarers to shipowners without the requisite financial protection in place. Such protection provides a financial safeguard to seafarers in the event that they are left abandoned as a result of the financial failure of the shipowner.

“Many of the enquires we have received to date have been from manning and recruitment agents trying to satisfy these obligations. A number of these agents are very concerned about supplying seafarers to vessels without this level of protection in place. Those agents who do refuse to provide seafarers who are not protected in this way will be acting in accordance with the requirements of MLC, and industry will effectively be regulating industry, at the same time encouraging best employment practice.”

For a photo of Thomas Brown, email: chris@merlinco.com

Seacurus Ltd is an FSA-regulated insurance broker, founded in 2004, specialising in bespoke revenue protection cover for the maritime industry. It is a market leader in the design and implementation of solutions to protect companies from unforecasted balance sheet impacts, including credit default, charter party cancellations, hijackings and voyage disruptions caused by political events. Seacurus established the first delegated underwriting binding authority for marine kidnap insurance and is an approved Lloyd’s Coverholder. www.seacurus.com