NONE of the multiple political challenges facing the industry are beyond its ability to tackle them, Singapore’s biggest shipowner has told the International Union of Marine Insurance conference.

Eastern Pacific insurance manager Chris Lambe was speaking at the event’s opening workshop on reglobalisation, geopolitics and trade.

“The geopolitical landscape plays a part; sanctions, tariffs, pandemics, war risks and no-go zones mean that we need to remain light on our feet,” he said.

“These are global issues and they feel right now like they’re in abundance. But they are not insurmountable challenges for us as shipowners.”

The company operates a diverse fleet of over 300 vessels worth an estimated $21bn, making it the largest player by fleet value in the region.

Lambe implied that multiple underwriters are needed to provide for its marine insurance needs.

Given the scale of its operations and the global nature of its trading activities, it naturally keeps an eye on international developments.

But counterintuitively, given the name of the session, he emphasised that politics was not at the top of Eastern Pacific’s priority ladder.

“For tens if not hundreds of years, a ship has been just a ship, a mode of carriage from A to B.

“When a ship is selected for a job, the choice is largely driven by price and little else,” he said.

However, shipping may have seen more change in the past decade than in the preceding century.

Eastern Pacific’s primary concern is the changing needs of customers and the ability to go where charterers want to go.

Meeting environmental regulations has been another challenge, which effectively required bets to be placed on which technology to adopt.

Eastern Pacific opted for LNG dual fuel vessels in 2019, which was a risk not many were prepared to take at the time.

Nevertheless, the regulatory picture is still evolving and similar bets may need to be taken in future.

Another problem is recruitment of both seafarers and shoreside staff, with Eastern Pacific effectively hiring several people every day.

Among the issues Eastern Pacific has considered strategically is whether deglobalisation will necessitate structuring its business in a way that allows it to trade everywhere, or if it can continue to “play both sides”, as Lambe put it.

Marine insurers should see themselves as partners for the long-term future, and offer more than just financial risk transfer.

They should be able to support shipowners wherever the deglobalisation music stops, he said.