Key conference comes to SA
South Africa is considered one of the busiest countries in Africa when it comes to maritime trading. Because of this, the marine insurance industry in the country is vibrant and a key role player when it comes to the international marine insurance industry.
For the first time in 144 years, the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) will be holding its annual conference in Cape Town. The event will take place from 16 to 19 September at the Cape Town International Conference Centre. FAnews did a video interview with Viviene Pearson, CEO of South African Insurance Association and Mike Brews, Chairman of the IUMI 2018 Organising Committee to find out more about the conference and SAIA's involvement. Please click on the hyperlinks to view the videos.
Brews also spoke about the risks that the marine insurance industry faces today.
What can delegates expect from the IUMI Conference in September?
“While the topics being discussed will relate to international trends and expectations, we will be giving this conference an African feel,” said Brews.
A number of the discussions will be focused on issues specifically relating to challenges facing our industry in Africa.
What will be the major content that delegates will get from the conference?
Firstly, there are a number of technical committees with quite specialised focus. These include deep water hull, cargo, and political environments. Many underwriters specialise in one specific field and will focus on those topics.
Others may focus on the networking aspect. Where else can you meet around 700 experts from various regions of the world with a wide variety of specific expertise.
How will the 2018 conference serve as a networking event for international delegates?
One of the key focuses of the conference is to enable delegates to interact with others from all over the world. The functions being set up, as well as the breaks during the conference, encourage delegates to interact with one another and get to meet a wide variety of market experts.
“We have also ensured that the breaks take place in the exhibition area which will allow exhibitors to get as much foot traffic through their stands as possible,” said Brews.
This will also encourage interaction amongst the sponsors, exhibitors and general delegates.
What are some of the major challenges that face the marine insurance industry today?
Technology is developing at a rapid rate, the marine industry is no different. Keeping up with these trends both in our own business and the businesses of our clients and suppliers is an on-going challenge.
Unpredictable weather patterns is currently a major area of concern. These have resulted in unprecedented losses and placed huge pressure on underwriting results.
“Modern vessels are getting larger every year. This poses a number of unknown and difficult to manage risks in our industry. Firefighting abilities and salvage recoveries are trying to keep pace with these developments but are finding it difficult to keep up. Losses are getting larger with the potential to have a catastrophic effect on industry results,” said Brews.
How is cyber crime impacting the marine insurance industry?
As with most industries, reliance on technology is growing every year; therefore, companies' vulnerability to attack increases with it.
This was highlighted is the recent cyber attack on Maersk. The attack resulted in many cargo shipments being re-routed and sometimes even lost which in turn had a major impact on the insurance industry.
The concern now arises with the future aim of autonomous vessels and crew-less cargo vessels being introduced in the next decade or so. How do we limit the exposure to cyber crime and what do we do if something happens?
The starting point for overcoming these challenges (cyber and otherwise) is conferences like IUMI where professionals from all over the world come together to discuss and brainstorm concerning trends in our market and how to overcome them.
In some cases, just the education value of what to look out for in various regions of the globe can have a huge impact on underwriting standards.
Editor's Thoughts:
The fact that the IUMI Conference is finally coming to South Africa shows that the IUMI is focused on addressing issues relevant to the African continent. This conference will definitely add value to anyone operating in the marine insurance space. Please comment below, interact with us on Twitter at @fanews_online or email me your thoughts [email protected].
