Archives for July 2020

Dorothea Ioannou becomes Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Mary (Molly) McCafferty appointed as Senior Vice President and Director of Claims for the Americas

New roles, and growing responsibilities of other senior managers, signify continuing development of key executive team

NEW YORK, JULY 15, 2020:  Shipowners Claims Bureau, Inc. (SCB), the Managers of the American Club, has announced senior appointments to its management team in New York. 

Dorothea Ioannou takes on the role of Deputy Chief Operating Officer (DCOO) with immediate effect, and Mary (Molly) McCafferty becomes Senior Vice President and Director of Claims for the Americas as from the beginning of September.

A New York-lawyer by training, and a well-known figure within the global industry at large, Dorothea Ioannou began her career in marine insurance over twenty-two years ago.  She joined SCB’s Piraeus office in 2005, originally as a claims specialist, but quickly moving on to be its Managing Director.  She subsequently led the American Club’s business development activity, regionally at the outset and then globally over the next several years.  Since 2018 Ms. Ioannou has been the Managers’ Chief Commercial Officer.

Molly McCafferty is also a well-known and highly-regarded figure in the maritime community. Her wealth of experience is derived from a career which has included the practice of law, P&I club correspondency and senior executive positions with international shipping companies, most recently as general counsel to a leading operator in the bulk trades.

A US attorney by training, Ms. McCafferty is admitted to the Bars of Connecticut and Florida. Among her many professional affiliations, she is a Member of the Society of Maritime Arbitrators its on its Board of Governors. She is also a Director of New York Maritime, Inc. (NYMAR). As a key member of the senior management team, Molly’s responsibilities at Shipowners Claims Bureau will include the supervision of all claims and related activities across the Americas, in regard to which she will report to Don Moore, Global Claims Director and Joanna Koukouli as his deputy in that role, as required.

As Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Ms. Ioannou will provide support to Vince Solarino, President and COO and, by extension, to Joe Hughes, Chairman and CEO.  Her duties will entail the day-to-day oversight of the Managers’ operating activities in their offices across the world, as well as involvement in the setting of management policy and global strategy in general. She will be supported by key members of the senior management team, each with increasing responsibility as the Club continues to develop its capabilities in fulfillment of its mission for the future.

Ms. Ioannou will relinquish her previous oversight of business development to Tom Hamilton who will now take on that assignment in conjunction with his existing duties as Chief Underwriting Officer, in which position he will continue to oversee underwriting strategy.  Arpad Kadi continues as Chief Financial Officer and Dan Tadros remains as Chief Legal and Compliance Officer.  Their responsibilities will continue to entail oversight, respectively, of the growing complexities of the financial landscape within which the Club operates and of the burgeoning legal and regulatory imperatives to which its business must increasingly be modeled.

Joe Hughes, Chairman and CEO of SCB, commented: “We are delighted to be welcoming Molly McCafferty to the management team at the beginning of September.  Molly will have an important role in the supervision of all claims and related activities across the Americas.  We are also delighted to announce the elevation of Dorothea Ioannou to Deputy Chief Operating Officer.  Dorothea has been a key member of the management team for some time now and has contributed greatly to the success of the American Club, and its other business lines, over recent years.  Her new duties will be of vital importance to the future of the Club in its operations across the world over the years ahead.

“As Dorothea transitions to her new role, and Molly assumes her new responsibilities, I am sure that everyone will wish to join me in wishing them both the very best of good fortune as a part of a dedicated, and developing, senior executive team.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

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, Shanghai and Houston, plus a worldwide network of correspondents.

The Club is a member of the International Group of P&I Clubs, a collective of thirteen mutual which together provide Protection and Indemnity insurance for some 90% of all world shipping.

The American Club also operates a fixed premium facility, Eagle Ocean Marine (EOM), aimed at the operators of smaller vessels in local and regional trades.  Since it commenced underwriting in 2011 with its coventurers at Lloyd’s, EOM has enjoyed considerable success in building a growing footprint in this specialist market and generating strong profitability for both the Club and its co-insuring partners.

American Hellenic Hull Insurance Company, Ltd. (AHHIC) is a wholly-owned, Solvency-II accredited hull and war risk subsidiary of the Club, based in Cyprus.  Since it began operating in mid-2016, AHHIC has enjoyed an increasing market presence coupled with growing premium volume and rising profitability.

For more information, please visit the Club’s website http://www.american-club.com/

Collaboration between risk management and insurance sectors will focus on education, training and guidance to reduce maritime cyber risk

(Houston) – ABSG Consulting Inc. (ABS Consulting), a subsidiary of ABS focused on safety and risk management, and American Steamship Owners Mutual Protection and Indemnity Association, Inc. (the American Club) have joined forces to provide education, training and insurance guidance that address maritime cyber security.

As digital transformation in the maritime industry brings both opportunities and new challenges, owners and operators are relying more on smart technologies and operational data to drive decisions and run their businesses. Comprehensive cyber security programs are not only necessary to protect operations, but are also critical to protect the overall safety of crew and the environment. More frequent cyber attacks, increased digitalization and emerging global regulatory focus are adding to immediate demands to address and reduce cyber risk across the industry’s value chain. Cyber security has become a business imperative and new measures will have an impact on how maritime vessels and facilities will be covered by insurers.

“The safety and security of our members is a priority. Having a better understanding of the tools available, the programs that can be implemented and the integration of these in the marine industry will help us provide better services to shipowners and charterers globally,” says William Moore, Director of Loss and Prevention at the American P&I Club. The work we are going to do with ABS Consulting is going to help us identify how to enhance our policies, and the offerings we need to incorporate to improve the coverage and services we offer to our members.”

“Collaborating with the American Club to build education programs for their members and industry will give us a better understanding of the real challenges we are collectively facing,” says Ian Bramson, Global Head of Cyber Security of ABS Group. “This alliance enables us to develop the tools, training and services that support compliance and help ship owners and operators put protections in place to secure their vessels – from the design and construction phases through continuous operation over their service life.”

About 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 U.S. 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 a large number of different languages, and has subsidiary offices located in London, Piraeus, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Houston, plus a worldwide network of correspondents. The Club is a member of the International Group of P&I Clubs, a collective of 13 mutuals which together provide Protection and Indemnity insurance for some 90% of all world shipping. For more information, please visit 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.

About ABS Group

ABSG Consulting Inc. is part of ABS Group of Companies, Inc. (www.abs-group.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of ABS, one of the world’s leading marine and offshore classification societies. Through its operating subsidiaries, ABS Group provides data-driven risk and reliability solutions and technical services that help clients confirm the safety, integrity, quality and efficiency of critical assets and operations. Headquartered in Spring, Texas, ABS Group operates with more than 1,000 professionals in over 20 countries serving the marine and offshore, oil, gas and chemical, government and industrial sectors.

Reinsurance for new facility period recently concluded on favorable terms with Lloyd’s and other first-class security

Steady growth, continuing profitability and reputation for exceptional service sustain EOM’s leading position as a dependable player in an unsettled market

NEW YORK, JUNE 9, 2020:  Eagle Ocean Marine (EOM), the American Club’s facility providing fixed premium P&I cover chiefly to the operators of smaller vessels in local and regional trades, has announced further progress in the development of its business as it enters a tenth year of service to the global maritime community.

EOM’s primary security is provided by the American Club but, unlike the latter’s mutual business, its facility years commence on July 1, from which date it traditionally arranges its reinsurance program for the following twelve months.  The renewal of this program was recently completed on favorable terms, mainly with underwriters at Lloyd’s, many of whom have long subscribed to EOM’s business in recognition of its enduring and highly respected presence in the fixed premium P&I market.

Blending the unsurpassed service traditions of an International Group mutual with a responsible approach to risk selection and pricing, EOM has been successful in achieving steady growth with sustained profitability.  This has earned it a secure place in a fixed premium P&I market which has experienced considerable turbulence over the recent past.

Since 2015, EOM has enjoyed a compound premium growth rate of about 17% per annum, with the three most recent years exhibiting an annual average closer to 20%.  The last three years have also seen an increase in tonnage of 34%, and a rise in the number of insured vessels of 52%.  Encouragingly, the average premium per ton has also increased – by about 20% over the period.  As it commences its tenth year of operations, EOM insures a fleet of nearly 1,300 vessels of about 2.5 million gross tons generating a total premium of approximately $15 million.

EOM serves a diverse constituency of insureds.  About 39% of its business comes from Northeast Asia, 32% from South and Southeast Asia, 20% from Europe and 9% from the rest of the world.  All kinds of smaller vessels are represented in its portfolio, the average unit size being a little under 2,000 gross tons.

However, growth and diversity have not come at the expense of profitability:  EOM’s aggregate combined ratio since inception is currently less than 80%.  These results continue to benefit the American Club mutuality, its reinsuring coventurers, as well as EOM’s insureds and other stakeholders who have been sustained by EOM’s reliability in a shifting fixed premium P&I landscape.

Speaking in New York today, Joe Hughes, Chairman and CEO of Eagle Ocean Agencies, Inc., which operates EOM, said: “Eagle Ocean Marine enters its tenth year of service to the global maritime community in excellent shape.  The sterling support recently received from EOM’s reinsurers was a vote of confidence in the sustainability of its business model for the future.  In a world of continuing uncertainty, EOM remains the gold standard in the fixed premium P&I sector.  It looks with optimism at the many exciting opportunities it is poised to develop over the years ahead.”

-ENDS-

NOTE:

Eagle Ocean Agencies, Inc., is a member of the New York-based Eagle Ocean Group of companies – North America’s leading provider of mutual management, underwriting, adjusting, claims handling, surveying and loss consultancy services to the international shipping and insurance communities.  Eagle Ocean Agencies, Inc.’s core business is the provision of coverholder and related services to a variety of insurance carriers.