Wednesday, 9th December 2009
The ‘A' rated, 100 million GT North of England P&I club, which provides liability insurance to over 10% of the world's owned shipping tonnage, is increasing the support it provides to its 350 member groups to help them survive the continuing global economic crisis.
In the foreword to the club's annual magazine North News published today (9 December 2009), chairman Albert Engelsman of Dutch shipping group Wagenborg says, ‘We continue to ask ourselves one simple, all-encompassing question: how can we help? How can we help our members to work their way through this deep recession and hopefully emerge stronger from the experience?'
He says while there may be signs the global economy is turning a corner, North's shipowner members are still struggling for survival, with freight rates, cargo volumes and credit levels all remaining at ‘rock-bottom' levels.
‘Our role is to support them. Of course that means dealing with any claims promptly and efficiently, but also, increasingly, our focus is on working alongside members to identify the factors that led to those claims in the first place, and then find ways of avoiding those risks - and others - going forward.'
He also stressed the importance of providing members with financial stability, highlighting North's unparalleled record for not making unbudgeted supplementary calls as a direct consequence of prudent underwriting and investment strategies. The club recently set a 5% general premium increase for 2010/11.
Elsewhere in North News joint managing directors Alan Wilson and Paul Jennings set out the club's strategy for increasing assistance to members, including enlarging North's teams in Greece, Hong Kong and Singapore as well as the UK head office - where an 18 month expansion project has just started.
An update of the club's continually developing range of risk management and loss-prevention initiatives is also provided, including new loss-prevention briefings, guides, DVDs and online services. Other articles give advice on managing public relations, working with the new Rotterdam rules and understanding implied terms and safe berth warranties.
North currently insures some 350 member groups from around the world, with a total P&I entry of 3750 vessels of 100 million GT (80 million GT owned and 20 million GT chartered). The club is based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK with regional offices in Hong Kong, Piraeus and Singapore.
