Regional insurance for Asian ships<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): Asian shipowners are gearing up to launch a
\nregional insurance market to underwrite their expanding fleets,
\nsave costs and challenge the dominance of Western insurers,
\nofficials said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"The establishment of an Asian-based insurance market is fast
\nbecoming a reality,\" Hong Kong shipping tycoon George Chao said
\nat the opening of a conference of marine and insurance industry
\nexecutives.<\/p>\n
Chao said regional shipowners were dissatisfied with the
\n\"levels of support and consultation\" they received from Western-
\nbased insurers and wanted to develop a pan-Asian market offering
\nmore competitive premium rates.<\/p>\n
He said a regionally-focused market on their doorstep would
\noffer Asian shipping lines greater flexibility, cheaper rates and
\nan \"atmosphere of local consultation and local understanding.\"<\/p>\n
Shipowners in Asia manage some 17,000 vessels with an
\nestimated capacity of 272 million deadweight tons -- 40 percent
\nof the world tonnage. Asia's share is expected to grow to 50
\npercent of the world merchant fleet by 2000.<\/p>\n
Last year, Asian shipowners paid 1.6 billion US dollars in
\ninsurance premiums mainly to London-based underwriters who have
\ntraditionally dominated the market. Japan accounted for the
\nlion's share.<\/p>\n
London, with Lloyd's as its cornerstone, has in recent years
\nbeen facing intense competition from Scandinavian, French and
\nAmerican marine underwriters.<\/p>\n
\"In the past when there was no competition Lloyd's was the
\nLord Almightly. They dictated the terms,\" Chao told reporters.<\/p>\n
\"Competition is good in any industry. We in Asia should not
\nrely on somebody else's facility. We should have something of our
\nown.\"<\/p>\n
He said Asian shipowners were working closely with the
\ninsurance sector to launch a regional market that would compete
\nwith Western underwriters.<\/p>\n
The move comes at a time when the marine insurance industry
\nappears to be heading for a downward cycle, reversing the trend
\nin the mid-1990s when premium rates had peaked and loss ratios
\nwere at a record low, experts said.<\/p>\n
A regional insurance facility can be launched within a year,
\nChao said, but \"we are not going in within a year for the simple
\nreason that the insurance market at the moment is very soft.\"<\/p>\n
\"An insurance company going in now would lose money and the
\nAsian market would be short-lived,\" said Chao, who is chairman of
\nthe Hong Kong Shipowners Association.<\/p>\n
\"But we are gearing up and as soon as we see the right time,
\nwe move in,\" Chao added.<\/p>\n
Asia has some of the world's busiest ports and most congested
\nsea routes in addition to the perils posed by cyclones and
\ntyphoons, and ship losses are common in the region.<\/p>\n
Insured sums have hit a peak. The insured sum of a new
\ncontainer vessel can easily exceed 100 million US dollars, and
\nthat of a liquefied natural gas carrier 300 million dollars,
\nexperts said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/regional-insurance-for-asian-ships-1447893297",
"image": ""
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