94 large ships lost worldwide in 2017, down by more than a third over 10 years. Bad weather involved in 1 in 4 losses. Losses up in accident hotspot – South China and South East Asian waters (30 ships). Typhoons, traffic and safety on domestic routes major factors. Shipping incidents in Arctic waters increase.
· Human error still a major driver of incidents. Big data analysis of crew behavior and near-misses could help prevent disasters.
· “Mega ship” fires, emissions rules, climate change and autonomous shipping pose new risk challenges. Insurers expect to see more losses from cyber incidents and technological defects.
There were 94 total losses reported around the shipping world in 2017, down 4% year-on-year (98) – the second lowest in 10 years after 2014. Bad weather, such as typhoons in Asia and hurricanes in the US, contributed to the loss of more than 20 vessels, according to the annual review, which analyzes reported shipping losses over 100 gross tons (GT).
“The decline in frequency and severity of total losses over the past year continues the positive trend of the past decade. Insurance claims have been relatively benign, reflecting improved ship design and the positive effects of risk management policy and safety regulation over time,” says Baptiste Ossena, global product leader Hull & Marine Liabilities, AGCS. “However, as the use of new technologies on board vessels grows, we expect to see changes in the maritime loss environment in future. The number of more technical claims will grow – such as cyber incidents or technological defects – in addition to traditional losses, such as collisions or groundings”, he concludes
Analysis shows Friday is the most dangerous day at sea – 175 losses of 1,129 total losses reported have occurred on this day over the past decade. Friday 13th really can be unlucky – three ships were lost on this day in 2012 including Costa Concordia, the largest-ever marine insurance loss. The unluckiest ship of the past year is a passenger ferry operating in the East Mediterranean and Black Sea region – it was involved in seven accidents in 12 months.
“Human error continues to be a major driver of incidents,” says Rahul Khanna, global head of Marine Risk Consulting, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS). “Inadequate shore-side support and commercial pressures have an important role to play in maritime safety and risk exposure. Tight schedules can have a detrimental impact on safety culture and decision-making.” It is estimated that 75 percent to 96 percent of shipping accidents involve human error. It is also behind 75 percent of 15,000 marine liability insurance industry claims analyzed by AGCS – costing $1.6bn
The Allianz Group -headquartered in Munich, Germany – is one of the world’s leading insurers and asset managers with more than 88 million retail and corporate customers. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from Property, Life and Health insurance to Assistance services to Credit insurance and Global business insurance. The Allianz Group manages over 650 billion euros on behalf of its insurance customers and an additional 1.4 trillion euros of third-party assets. Allianz holds the leading position for insurers in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and in 2017, over 140,000 employees in more than 70 countries achieved total revenue of 126 billion euros and an operating profit of 11 billion euros for the Allianz Group.
In July 2018, Nigerian insurer, Ensure Insurance, was acquired by the Allianz Group and rebranded to Allianz Nigeria in December 2018
