Cargo Insurance

By Sergio Laos, ARM, CMIP Companies involved in the logistics and supply chain industries are all too familiar with the disruption and damage hurricanes cause, including damage to their facilities, equipment, and to a client’s cargo. You cannot control where a storm may land, but you can control the financial impact to your business. Hurricane season is fast approaching. Now is the time to ensure your emergency management and business continuity plan is ready to activate and to speak with your insurance broker to verify that your plan and your insurance program are aligned. Equally important is to speak with […]

In the absence of shipper’s interest cargo insurance to protect the cargo owner against financial loss, carrier’s liability is all that remains, and cargo owners are often disappointed by the all-too-common misconception that the carrier will fully cover their loss. They might even ask the logistics service provider, “They’re going to pay for this, right?” Such misconceptions are mainly present in claims scenarios when negligence seems evident, or a party has admitted fault. Ultimately, the cargo owner is appalled by a nominal award amount that falls far short of the owner’s financial loss. In an article on American Shipper, Roanoke […]

Situation  In Q4, BSI recorded a significant uptick in rail thefts in North America, especially in the United States, in the Los Angeles area along trail lines, and near the port.  In Q4, the rail modality accounted for 6.7 percent of recorded cargo theft incidents in the United States. While this is a significant jump from previous years, predominantly composed of either the facility or trucking modality, the majority of the thefts are limited to California, generally, and the East Los Angeles area, more specifically. However, Memphis, Tennessee is increasingly seeing an uptick in rail thefts as well, highlighting the shared risk […]

Millions of goods are stuck on container ships waiting for a space to be unloaded at U.S. ports or to be hauled away in trucks, leading to massive traffic jams and supply chain bottlenecks. While short- and long-term solutions to rectify the various challenges are being discussed, it’s important for LSPs, cargo owners, warehouse operators and other stakeholders in the supply chain to understand their insurance programs, contractual agreements and best practices to properly protect their businesses. In an article titled “Disruption, delays and demurrage: What’s covered?”, recently published in American Shipper, Roanoke discusses disruptions, delays and demurrage, and what’s covered. If […]

  ONE Apus via Twitter   On November 30th, the cargo ship, ONE Apus, sailing from Yantian, China to Long Beach, CA, encountered severe weather. Swells exceeding 20 feet struck the vessel. An estimated 1816 containers were lost overboard, and containers remaining onboard received significant damage. Current estimates are that over $200 million worth of cargo was lost or damaged. The ship is now berthed in the port of Kobe, Japan, where operations are underway to remove containers.    One of the most pressing unknowns around this accident is whether or not the vessel owners will declare a General Average (GA). A General […]

The insurance industry is highly cyclical. A soft market cycle is defined by lower insurance premiums, broader appetite and coverage, increased capacity (the availability of high limits), and greater underwriting flexibility. Alternatively, a hard market is characterized by higher insurance premiums, diminished capacity, more conservative underwriting, and fewer carriers writing certain coverage lines and specific industries. For the last few years, the insurance industry has been  experiencing a hardening of the market. Today we are well into a hard market across most insurance lines effecting the majority of industries. Insurance experts predict that the hard market will continue into 2021, […]