The Early Development of Marine Insurance
June 7, 2018//-It is a fact that the concept of Insurance primarily being a risk transfer mechanism to protect against future losses started from Marine insurance.
This suggests that marine insurance has the objective of financially providing cover to shipping vessels, boats and cargo mostly at sea.
Separate Marine Insurance contracts were thus developed in Genoa and other Italian cities in the 14th century spreading to northern Europe.
The need for insurance emerged from the desire of business persons to take calculated risks. Hitherto, such risks were encountered when sailing ships were sent off on hazardous sea voyages to trade with other countries far from their source without any form of financial compensation. This thus gave birth to the mother of all insurances – marine insurance!
What Marine Insurance Covers
Marine Insurance (MI) which was designed to cover loss or damage to ships, vessels, cargo, terminals, and any other form of sea transport for which property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and final destination also protects importers / exporters against loss, theft or damage to goods or property conveyed by sea including other waterways and rivers. Ship-owners are also protected against loss or damage to hull, machinery of the vessel and legal liability of the ship-owners, while on the high seas.
The Risk of Losing Goods at Sea
Quite often we hear of goods being lost at sea; shipping vessels sinking with the goods; and the crew and sometimes passengers getting lost. Given the value of losses in such cases, one can only imagine how vessel owners feel about these accidents and losses. As the notorious Somali pirates, among several others continue to build their shameful brands, piracy at sea continues to attract the attention of most governments across the world.
In view of the growing hazards on our seas, the need for a specialized sea-related insurance has become more critical. The catastrophic effects of happenings at sea may be similar or more heart-rending than those in the air. This is validated by the age-old argument that there is virtually nothing more to discover in space, as there is under the sea!
Stakeholders to brainstorm
It is apparent that the important role played by marine insurance or expected to play to the Ghanaian economy is what has informed the Insurance Awareness Coordinating Group (IACG) to organize a capacity building programme to throw more light on the sector especially in an era of expanding economic activities.
The IACG which comprises Representatives of the National Insurance Commission (NIC), the Ghana Insurers Association (GIA), the Ghana Insurance Brokers Association (GIBA), etc with funding support from the Programme for Sustainable Economic Development (PSED) of the German Development Corporation GIZ), deemed it necessary to initiate this capacity building programme to trigger a discussion that could possibly turn the country’s marine insurance fortunes around.
Apart from seasoned insurance practitioners, other relevant stakeholders to participate in this all-important workshop are freight forwarders, cargo haulers, trans-ocean importers & exporters, trade regulators and policymakers, among others, to deliberate on the way forward.
By Mawuli Zogbenu , mzogbenu@yahoo.com
