P&I Insurer recognised for best practice to the shipping industry
NEW YORK, MAY 23, 2015: The American Club has won the Lloyd’s List North American Maritime Services Award for 2016. The presentation of the award took place in New York at the end of last week in the presence of a large congregation of luminaries from the North American maritime community, and the Chairman of the Board of the American Club, Arnold Witte, accepted the award on its behalf.
In a news release, Lloyd’s List said: “The Maritime Services Award – General is bestowed on an organisation, company or individual for an exceptional achievement or contribution to any service sector of the North American maritime industry and the judges were exceedingly impressed with the American P&I Club’s recent growth.”
Joe Hughes, Chairman and CEO of the American Club’s managers, Shipowners Claims Bureau, Inc., said:
“An important criterion explicitly identified by Lloyd’s List was the winner of this award should have gone ‘above and beyond best practice to offer the shipping industry something exceptional’ and we are absolutely delighted that the judges were satisfied we have achieved this.”
“The essence of our original entry is contained in the commendation of the Club (as below) which was taken into account by the judging panel in choosing the American Club for this award from a very strong field of finalists,” Hughes added.
This distinction was bestowed on the Club by a 14 strong judging panel representing many sectors of the shipping industry. It speaks to the high regard in which the American Club is held by the maritime community and represents a fitting tribute to all its Members on the eve of its centennial year.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
The American Club Commendation in full
Commendation of the American Club recognising its success in winning the Lloyd’s List 2016 North American Maritime Services Award:
“The American P&I Club has developed over recent years into a strong player in international marine insurance. Having grown and diversified, it now has a truly global presence and a broad range of products. Approaching its centennial, the Club celebrates a distinguished past and welcomes a future of continuing success.
The American P&I Club is the only mutual protection and indemnity insurer domiciled in the Americas. Founded in 1917, it has provided nearly a century of dedicated service to both the domestic and international shipping communities.
For much of its history, the Club insured only US-based shipowners. But in the mid-1990s the Club adopted a new strategy of international growth and diversification. Since then, the American Club has undergone a remarkable transformation. Its achievements over the period include: a fivefold increase in entered tonnage; fourfold premium growth; eightfold growth in funds under investment and a tenfold increase in free reserves; a broad and expanding international membership, 47% of its revenue now coming from EMEA, 32% from the Americas and 20% from Asia. Twenty years ago, less than 10% of its income came from non-US sources.
The Club has also developed extensive international service capabilities. In addition to its New York headquarters, it has dedicated offices in London, Athens, Hong Kong and Shanghai, with a Houston office opening soon. Also, having originally been only a reinsured member of the International Group of P&I Clubs, the American Club is now a full member of this preeminent industry collective in which it plays an active and important role.
The American Club takes pride in its energetic promotion of maritime safety and loss prevention. Its publications and training materials – together with other focused initiatives – are second-to-none in the industry. Its proactivity in this area is driven not only by the benefits it brings to the Club but also by a desire to support society’s common interest in the safety of life at sea and the preservation of the marine environment.
The American Club has also expanded its line of insurance products in recent years. In addition to P&I and FD&D cover, the Club now provides a full catalogue of related protections. It has also pioneered new areas of business such as its Eagle Ocean Marine facility which boasts a growing footprint in the fixed premium P&I sector across the world. Most recently, the Club has further diversified into the hull insurance market through its investment in the American Hellenic Hull Insurance Company in Cyprus.
Occupying a unique position within the North American marine insurance community, there can be no better example than the American Club of US service outreach to the world in recent years, the Club having emerged as a global player commanding universal respect within the industry.”
The American Club
American Steamship Owners Mutual Protection and Indemnity Association, Inc. (the American Club) was established in New York in 1917. It is the only mutual Protection and Indemnity Club domiciled in the entire Americas and its headquarters are in New York, USA.
The American Club has been successful in recent years in building on its US heritage to create a truly international insurer with a global reach second-to-none in the industry. Day to day management of the American Club is provided by Shipowners Claims Bureau, Inc. also headquartered in New York.
The Club is able to provide local service for its members across all time zones, communicating in eleven languages, and has subsidiary offices located in London, Piraeus, Hong Kong and Shanghai, plus a worldwide network of correspondents.
The Club is a member of the International Group of P&I Clubs, a collective of thirteen mutuals which together provide Protection and Indemnity insurance for some 90% of all world shipping.
For more information, please visit the Club’s website http://www.american-club.com/
P&I Insurance
Protection and Indemnity insurance (commonly referred to as “P&I”) provides cover to shipowners and charterers against third-party liabilities encountered in their commercial operations; typical exposures include damage to cargo, pollution, death/injury or illness of passengers or crew or damage to docks and other installations.
Running in parallel with a ship’s hull and machinery cover, traditional P&I cover distinguishes itself from usual forms of marine insurance by being based on the not-for-profit principle of mutuality where Members of the Club are both the insurers and the assureds.