OREANDA-NEWS. March 28, 2011. Allianz IJSC, supported by the Union of Russian Shipowners, has held a Maritime Insurance conference themed "Vessel Hull Insurance and Shipowners’ Liability". The event was held in Swissotel Krasnye Holmy, Moscow. The conference was attended by over 100 representatives of insurance companies, brokers, shipowner companies, agencies, surveyors, and law firms, reported the press-centre of ROSNO.

The conference was opened by Mr. Stig Jensen, Nordic General Manager of Allianz SE, who told about his company’s international expertise in Maritime Insurance. In his welcome speech, Mr. Wilhelm Schaugg, Deputy CEO of Allianz IJSC, noted: "The Maritime Insurance conference organized by our company aims not only to cover the major issues arising in this insurance field, but, primarily, to create a peer-to-peer discussion room to discuss the specifics of the shipowners’ liability insurance and reinsurance program, which was jointly developed by Allianz IJSC and Hanseatic P&I Germany".

This program represents a classical shipowners’ third party liability insurance based on fixed insurance premium rates. Usually, shipowners insure such risks in mutual insurance clubs, where the cost of insurance may increase depending on the performance results of the club itself. In contrast, under the insurance program developed by Allianz IJSC, shipowners choose the set of covered risks at their sole discretion, and they do not have to make latter payments of additional contributions for the years when insurance policy was absent, unlike the majority of mutual insurance clubs which often do require such payments.

Among the active conference participants were the reputable experts from Allianz companies in the United States, Germany and France, as well as Mr. Vladimir Mednikov, Vice President of OJSC Sovkomflot, and Mr. Sergey Ivlev, Director of the Maritime Insurance Department of Aon Rus — Insurance Brokers.

The conference was concluded by a discussion forum moderated by Mr. Gennady Baskov, Director of the Maritime Risk Insurance Department of Allianz IJSC, focusing on such issues as loss settlement, sound ship management, shipowners’ liability insurance, and pollution risks.