Marine insurance experts call for a regional insurance alliance at a recent conference
The Dubai Marine Insurance Conference, the region’s unique event focusing on the regional and global maritime insurance sector, recently concluded its activities on with a call for establishing a GCC or even a Gulf-Asian insurance group that specialises in insurance and reinsurance operations in the maritime sector, including ships, vessels, cargo operations, transport of goods and oil and petrochemicals to and from the region.
The call comes within efforts to reinforce stability in the levels of insurance prices and to retain the largest share of insurance premiums locally or in the Gulf regionally.
The conference’s keynote address was provided by Khamis Juma Buamim, CEO, Gulf Navigation Holding and organised by Anchor Marine, one of the region’s leading providers of shipping services.
The conference focused on factors affecting maritime trade security, marine and equipment, cargo shipping and risk management insurance, and marine electronic risk management and insurance.
“As a critical engine for the national economy, the marine insurance sector needs to be addressed more frequently to make sure that it adapts with the rapid developments of the marine industry, the objective that has been achieved successfully by Dubai Marine Insurance Conference,” Buamim noted.
During his keynote speech, Buamim pointed out that more than 90% of marine insurance operations are carried out outside the region through non-local insurers, which means a significant loss of premiums, moreover the situation does not reflect the strength and reality of the national economy and active trading movement.
He also pointed out to the importance of the existence of insurance institutions or a group capable of carrying out large insurance operations to provide the national economy with insurance premiums commensurate with the size of the UAE’s strong economy, which is characterised by a stable investment environment, economic and political and can continue to grow.
Forging partnerships
The conference witnessed an announcement of partnership between the International Institute of Marine Surveying (IIMS) and Maritime Sky that specialises in Marketing and media strategy, to support the (IIMS) 6th biennial conference in Dubai, which brings attention to the UAE as a leading maritime hub.
Speakers list at the conference that took place onboard of Queen Elizabeth 2 in Dubai, included Captain Abdullah Darwish Al Hayas, General Manager of Maritime Transport Affairs at the Federal Authority for Land and Marine Transport; Oscar Lavender, Rolls Royce Marine Vice President and Walid Al Tamimi, General Manager and Executive Assistant to the Vice President, Emirates Maritime Arbitration Centre.
Khaled Meftah, Director of Business Development at the Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA), disclosed that the total marine insurance premium in the UAE insurance market rose to a whopping AED 1.1bn in 2017, higher by 10% over the previous year. It also represented a 3.5% increase in the total property and liability insurance premiums during the same period.
He added that the market share of the national insurance companies accounts for a remarkable 71% of the local marine insurance market against 29% for foreign companies, providing once again its importance in the progress of both the domestic maritime industry and the country’s entire national economy.
Changing landscape
Capt. Gamal Fekry, Managing Director, MC Ship Management in Dubai observed that the maritime insurance landscape witnessed a lot of changes, as more and more shipping and oil vessels companies are focused on proactive actions to reduce the high cost of marine insurance.
He advised them to adopt risk management systems that would minimise the faults that could cause risks in earlier stages. Some other giant companies have developed self-insured schemes as there are no big enough insurance companies that can handle the volume of business. He added that the volume of marine insurance in the Gulf region accounts for US$ 26bn annually.
IIMS is a non-governmental 27-year old professional institution that has its membership base in over 92 countries, which makes it one of the most diverse global institutes of its kind.
The event was attended by around 500 marine business experts and marine insurance professionals over a two-day period.
