THE ready resort to sanctions by Western governments increasingly leaves marine insurers facing the contradictory imperatives of both facilitating trade and restraining it, one of the sector’s top annual events has been told.

The comments from Neil Roberts, head of marine and aviation at the Lloyd’s Market Association, were delivered to the International Union of Marine Insurance conference in Singapore this afternoon.

Addressing a workshop in his role as chair of IUMI’s policy forum, Roberts said: “It would be impossible not to mention the complications caused by sanctions, every Western politician’s tool of choice.

“The problem for insurers is twofold; first the need to comply, and second the difficulty of trading when reconciling two complete opposites.

“Sanctions are designed to inhibit trade whereas marine insurance is meant to facilitate it.”

Otherwise, maritime safety including environmental protection and seafarer wellbeing remain the top policy issues for IUMI.

“The core of our policy forum work continues to focus on the International Maritime Organization and initiatives aimed at improving safety at sea,” Roberts added.

In particular, IUMI members are actively engaged with the IMO Ship Systems and Equipment Sub-Committee, particularly around critical issues such as fires on boxships and car carriers.

This is an area of growing concern for many marine underwriters. While the majority of loss prevention specialists insist there is no proven causal link between lithium-ion batteries on electric vehicles, a handful are now stating publicly that they fear this is the case.

IUMI issued an updated position paper providing risk mitigation advice for the safe ocean transport of EVs, reflecting new research and findings.

In August, IUMI published an information paper urging marine insurers to broaden their understanding of modern slavery risks within maritime and logistics supply chain.

Roberts also spoke out on environmental risks, referencing the X-Press Pearl (IMO: 9875343) incident and other recent cases such as Solong (IMO: 9322554) and MSC Elsa 3 (IMO: 9123221).

The X-Press Pearl casualty highlighted the impact of nurdles — small plastic pellets — when spilt into the ocean, where they are nearly impossible to remove and often enter the food chain.

With billions more in production and transported by sea, IUMI favours greater controls and argues that nurdles should be subject to the dangerous goods code.

The workshop also considered the critical role of seafarers in keeping global trade moving. Discussions focused on the pressures crews are increasingly under, including fatigue, working conditions and recruitment pressures.