With the participation of almost all IG P&I Clubs and after 2 years of pandemic the Piraeus Marine Club (PMC) organised the 22nd International P&I Conference which was chaired by Mr. Lou Kollakis, Honorary Chairman of Chartworld Shipping.
Opening addresses were delivered by Mr. Mr. George Alexandratos - General Manager of Apollonia Lines S.A - Chairman of the BoD of the PMC and Ms. Maria Prevezanou - Director of Evmar Marine Services Ltd. - Treasurer of the BoD of the PMC / Organiser of the Conference.
The following topics were discussed:
- Are further club mergers inevitable? Whose interests do they really serve?
- Is it time for clubs to reassess their portfolios, particularly as to asset class selection, given the volatility in the capital market?
- Expanding sanctions regimes implemented by carious countries and supranational entities over recent years have created both complexity and confusion for the shipping industry and Club’s perspective on this issue.
- Pool claims peaked from 2018 into 2021 whilst 2022 appears to be benign. Can the current pooling systems and especially Hydra and the Group’s excess of loss reinsurance address the larger pool claims?
Speakers of the first panel were: Ms. Dorothea Ioannou, CEO The American Club,
Mr. Jeremy Grose Chief Executive The Standard Club and Mr. Sean Geraghty Regional Director of Greece Thomas Miller P&I Ltd (UK Club).
The co-ordinator of the panel Mr. George Gourdomichalis asked the speakers to comment on the latest P&I developments.
Mr. Jeremy Grose from The Standard Club referred to the recent merger of North of England P&I and Standard Club and commented on the reasons that dictated the successful completion of the deal such as financial compatibility and business philosophy.
Mr. Sean Geraghty from Thomas Miller P&I Club told that is not interested in merging with another Club of minor or bigger scale. He does not see that there is a strong momentum for mergers and acquisitions and specific interest under the current market conditions.
The speakers also referred to the elements of the P&I Clubs administration costs such as claims & operational management to support members and provide the service that are looking for.
Mrs. Dorothea Ioannou CEO of The American Club pointed out that there are very particular circumstances in order to proceed to a merger and joint venture which depend on the similarities between two clubs including common retention program and risk profile.
At the end of the day the clubs compete on the service that they offer to the members and the expertise of their personnel.
Mr. Gourdomichalis concluded that mergers are possible to happen in this turbulent environment and aim at further investments and better service.
The second panel included the following speakers: Mr. Stephen Martin Executive Chairman of Steamship Insurance Management Services, Mr. Ludvig Nyhlen Area Manager Team Piraeus The Swedish Club and Mr. Kjell-Ake Augustsson Senior Vice President, Head of Skuld Piraeus.
Mr. Ludvig Nyhlen from The Swedish Club told that one of the cornerstones of our investment policy is to protect the club’s capital and attract higher yield in the long term as well as constantly access the assets.
The speakers agreed that you have limited parameters for investments according to the solvency rules and the benefits/profits returns always to the members.
In the US marine insurance market according to Joe Hughes from The American Club the P&I Club has to comply with Risk Based Capital (RBC) authorities reporting quarterly and maintaining capital at a certain level based on the tonnage and the risk profile.
The following speakers Mr Mike Salthouse Global Director (Claims) North of England P&I Association Limited, Mr. Konstantinos Samaritis Divisional Director Britannia Steam Ship Insurance Association Limited, Mr. George Karas Managing Director Gard Greece, Mr. Ian Clarke Head of Claims & Regional Director (Hellas) West of England Insurance Services SA discussed the controversial issue of sanctions regimes.
Mr. Ian Clarke from West of England underlined that sanctions lead to a very confused environment. West of England is working closely with the US and EU authorities to ensure that no restrictions are imposed to members’.
Konstantinos Samaritis from Britannia noted that we encourage our members to exercise due diligence to identify sanctions’ red flag.
It is of paramount importance to identify quality of the cargo and that the destination to be absolute legitimate.
P&I Clubs should maintain assessment departments and carry out continuous training programs to comply the sanctions regimes.
George Karkas from Gard outlined that you always have to think what will happen during the adventure from the port of loading until the port of discharge.
George Gourdomichalis commented that there is no safe way to comply with sanctions.
Mike Salthouse from NoE P&I Club mentioned that the issue of sanctions is notably complex.
In conclusion sanctions are a difficult financially and politically issue which it forces to carry out marginally your business and all shipping operators must maintain a sanctions screening system in place.
The last panel examined the issue of pool claims and included the following speakers Mr Ian Barr Director The London P&I Club and Mr. Dimitris Batalis General Manager Greece The Shipowners Club (SOP).
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