Latitude Brokers

Construction Projects – what’s the Marine connection?

Almost every week there is news of a commitment to finance construction projects around the world, either at a governmental level or through private investment. For most large multi-year projects, the necessary materials are not available domestically and have to be shipped in from around the world in a complex logistical operation, with each component arriving at the project site just ...

Charterer’s Default Insurance (Updated)

Since the financial crisis of 2008, counter-party risk has changed dramatically. That has, thankfully, resulted in shorter charter chains, a move to better counter-party risk management and a continued move towards charterers with a strong track record. That said, the shipping market continues to have an excess of capacity, particularly in dry bulk, with rates remaining low. Container rates remain ...

Cuban Sanctions – Cargo Insurance

Given the US and Cuba are restarting their diplomatic relationship, the sanctions that have been in place for over 50 years are anticipated to be softened and finally extinguished completely. Whilst regular trade to/from Cuba has been complicated and rare until now, this is set to change and quickly – so how does is your insurance affected? Cargo Insurance Cargo insurances often (but ...

Off-Spec Bunkers remain a major issue

The International Bunker Industry Association has recently announced their intentions to tackle the issue of off-spec bunkers through collaboration with owners, operators and suppliers. Whilst the figures appear to be improving, as 8% of bunkers tested in Q1 2015 have been found to be off-spec, down from 10% in the same period 2014, those figures remain high and cause substantial ...

Latitude Brokers supports Mission to Seafarers at Sea Asia, Singapore

We are proud to be donating time to man the Mission to Seafarers booth at Sea Asia in Singapore on 22nd April. Mission to Seafarers provides essential help and support to the 1.5 million men and women seafarers around the world. Working in over 260 ports through a network of chaplains, staff and volunteers they offer practical, emotional and spiritual ...

Falling Oil Prices – How do they affect your insurance rates?

From 2010 until mid-2014, oil prices had been fairly stable, at about $110 a barrel. However, as we have seen constantly in the news, the oil price has fallen sharply over the past seven months (as at January 2015) with Brent crude oil now dipping below $50 a barrel. Why does the price of oil keep falling? Very briefly – oil ...

Reduction in the IG Excess Reinsurance Programme for 2015

Negotiations have been finalised for the International Group General Excess of Loss reinsurance contract and the favourable Pool claims experience for 2012, 2013 and 2014 policy years, have enabled the group to achieve rate reductions: minus 8.11% for clean and dirty tankers minus 6.05% for dry cargo vessels and no increase for passenger vessels and chartered entries. The Clubs apart from ...

Our (very concise) View on P&I and H&M for 2015

We were kindly asked by Tradewinds to give a short overview of how we see the H&M and P&I market in 2015. Here’s what we said in Tradewinds 9 January 2015 edition: “P&I The main themes for 2015 are diversification, regulatory effects, fixed premium and the Nairobi Convention. Diversification of IG Clubs’ product base continues, the latest being Standard Syndicate ...

XL to buy Catlin Group for USD4.1bn (Updated)

The purchase of Catlin Group by the global insurer XL Group Plc is to proceed according the their Press Release of yesterday. The new entity will trade as XL Catlin, with the parent company remaining as XL Group. According to the press release, the companies are expecting the transaction to be completed in mid-2015. What’s interesting about this is, aside ...

Swedish Club receives A- rating from AM Best

The Swedish Club has received an upgrade from AM Best to an A- (Excellent) rating. Standard & Poor’s reaffirmed it’s “BBB+” rating earlier this year, although they had raised their assessment of the Club’s capital adequacy and earnings to ‘strong’. At the same time, the London Club, managed by A Bilbrough, have received their first interactive rating of ‘BBB’ from ...