When the end of the year comes around, we tend to analyze the 12 months in retrospect, contextualizing the special moments that have stood out in the calendar. In the case of 2020, the entire year has been marked by one subject and one subject only: COVID. The pandemic has had an impact in every small and large thing in everyday life, from staying at home to working remotely and learning how to adapt to a distanced work environment, and where the disabling factor of the disease -or even the possibility of contracting it- has wreaked havoc in the insurance world related to damages linked to the virus in any way possible. Quarantines and lockdowns have threatened the supply chain in more than one occasion and in more ports than we would like to acknowledge, as well as the health risks to which port workers and crew members are exposed to.

To talk about some of the trends that have popped up during the year in the P&I insurance sector, the UK P&I Club organized a webinar with the support of their Chilean legal correspondents, JJR Abogados. The "Navigating Latin America: focus on Chile, IMO 2020, pollution and P&I trends 2020,” also had the participation of representatives from Atlantic Insurance & Reinsurance Brokers, Ultranav with the support of MundoMaritimo.

Civil liability

Who’s responsible? This is always a complex question to answer, because civil liability is not exclusive to one party, but rather to many actors involved that may be determined responsible according to the type of claim and the legal system where it is being processed. Be it an oil spill, a COVID patient on board, a lost or damaged cargo, all are of different nature and must be treated with the detail they entail. “In case of an oil spill, for example, it is key that aside of the actions of contacting local authorities, the involved parties must also get in touch with the P&I Club, because the Club must develop its own investigation,” says Rafael Díaz, Senior Claims Executive UK Club (New Jersey, USA). On her part, Leanne O’Loughlin, regional director UK Club (New Jersey, USA), highlighted that as far as the exercise of the UK P&I Club and other protection and indemnity clubs, "even though we compete between the different P&I Clubs, the pandemic has brought us closer looking for solutions that we can all apply.”

Examples and trends

Despite that the medium of transport is different, aviation and the maritime industry have more in common than meets the eye. That was the focus of the presentation by Stuart Edmonston, Loss Prevention Director UK Club (London, UK), who detailed the alliance with CAE (Civil Aviation) to apply prevention and risk practices in the maritime industry based on the experience from aviation cases. On his part, Richard Adler, Key Client Broker & Chief Commercial Officer Atlantic Insurance & Reinsurance Brokers, spoke of the different issues involving the 2021 P&I renewal environment, including the state of the market, the 2020 pool claims skyrocketing and the new Standard & Poor goalpost.

Alec Kyrle-Pope, Charterers Risk Specialist UK Club (UK) and Felipe Carrillo, Senior Manager & Head of Insurance and Claims Ultranav (Santiago, Chile), shared the panel on the consequences of the implementation of IMO2020 both from the Club’s perspective as well as the operator, respectively. On the impact of COVID on the bunker industry, “we still don’t have the full image of what COVID will mean for the bunker fuel industry,” said Kyrle-Pope, who highlighted that the ‘waves’ of the coronavirus storm are still hitting hard against the bunker fuel industry, therefore it is prudent to wait until the immediate effects of the pandemic are behind in order to make a balance. 

Ricardo Rozas, Partner of the Chilean law firm specializing in maritime law, JJR Abogados, who was also moderator for the event, thanked the Club and speakers for the initiative and their presentations and concluded with a round of live Q&A. The online event had some 320 registered attendants and will be available on demand.