A new Lloyd’s market consortium has been launched to provide additional marine war risk insurance capacity for vessels and cargo transiting the Strait of Hormuz, Lloyd’s announced.
Chubb will serve as lead underwriter, supported by participating Lloyd’s syndicates and specialist market partners. Lloyd’s noted that the consortium brings together leading underwriting expertise with additional market capacity to support brokers and clients operating in a complex and fast-moving environment.
The new marine war risk consortium will issue primary policies for vessels and cargo. It will provide up to $200 million of capacity separately for hull and P&I risks, with an additional $200 million of dedicated cargo capacity.
Chubb is also the lead underwriter for a separate $40 billion maritime insurance facility, first created in March by the U.S. government via the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. (DFC). In April, the plan was increased from $20 billion to $40 billion.
“As a global leader, Chubb is actively working to provide coverage and organize needed capacity as vessels begin moving through the Strait of Hormuz,” said Evan Greenberg, CEO of Chubb. “We are proud to lead this consortium, which provides our brokers and clients with a simple, efficient solution to their insurance needs while highlighting the importance our industry plays in supporting global commerce.”
Patrick Tiernan, chief executive of Lloyd’s, welcomed the launch. “This new marine war risk consortium will increase the depth and breadth of solutions available to brokers and clients as they respond to a complex and evolving situation in the Middle East,” he said. “Lloyd’s will work closely with Chubb and participating syndicates to help mobilise additional specialist capacity swiftly and responsibly in support of ships, crews and cargo moving through the Strait of Hormuz. This is a clear example of the Lloyd’s market’s role in bringing together specialist underwriting expertise, claims capability and global market capacity to support the resilience of marine supply chains.”
Marine war risk insurance provides cover for certain war, terrorism, piracy, and related perils affecting vessels and cargo, subject to the terms of the relevant policy.
Photograph: Ships anchored in the Strait of Hormuz near Larak Island, Iran. Photo credit: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images Europe.
