Insurer hopeful of continued growth

Marine insurers are gradually
seeing an increase in project
cargo once again.
According to Associated
Marine’s chief operating officer
Mike Brews, there has been a
definite drop in volumes in recent
years – especially during and
after the world wide economic
downturn, but it is a situation that
seems to be improving.
“We have started to see tenders
coming in and while not many
have come to fruition, it is a very
hopeful situation.”
He said due to a lack of project
cargo it has been very difficult
to make any forecasts or to
determine trends. “But it is a
sector on which we have been
keeping a very close watch and
one that we believe is going to
pick up quite well.”
Brews said with many
projects happening across Africa
opportunities were endless.
“Infrastructure remains our
biggest concern – be it the routes
travelled or the ports used. We
do mitigate as much of that
risk as possible through third
party surveyors but it remains a
challenge in the African context.”
According to Brews, when it
comes to projects, insurers often
require supervision, especially
during loading due to the
specialised nature of the cargo.
“Because it is so specialised, if
any damages occur the cargo
either has to be returned to its
point of origin or engineers
have to be brought out from the
manufacturing country to do the
repairs. Both these are costly
options and therefore we are very
strict in our requirements.”
He said often companies also
insured for any possible loss of
profit due to a slow start-up of
a factory or a mine for instance.
“If something goes wrong with
project cargo it inevitably ends
up taking time to fix and that risk
must be mitigated at all times.”