Global Shipping Insurance May Shift if Sanctions End, BIMCO Says

The new insurers and P&I clubs — groups that pool risks — should be assessed based on their adherence to international safety and technical standards, Nikolaus Schues, president of shipping association BIMCO, said in an interview. They may become legitimate should the Trump administration roll back sanctions on Russia, he said, with the US bidding to end the war in Ukraine. (Editor’s note: BIMCO is an acronym for Baltic and International Maritime Council).

“Some of the new insurers may become part of the IG,” Schues said on Tuesday, referring to the International Group of P&I Clubs, an association whose members provide cover for most ocean-going tonnage against risks including spills and collisions. “Hopefully, after the Russian sanctions end, the bad part of the parallel fleet will go away.”

The global shipping industry is closely tracking efforts by the US administration to end the three-year conflict triggered by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. That drive has spawned expectations that a broad web of sanctions against Russia may be relaxed — including curbs on its access to western marine insurance services linked to the price of crude.

To circumvent the curbs, entities willing to work with Moscow assembled a vast dark fleet of aged vessels. Within that, a small number tankers have sailed without any known insurance — a major concern for other vessels and environmentalists — while others have found support from new entities. Among them is the China P&I Club, which has emerged as a reliable major global insurer that remains outside of the main IG group, according to Schues.

“Just because somebody is new, he is not bad,” Schues said on the sidelines of an industry conference in Singapore, which is a major shipping hub. “But, somebody who is new has to first prove that he is not bad.”

Photograph: An oil tanker sail at sunset. Photo credit: Marcelo del Pozo/Bloomberg