Philippine insurance firms are asking the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to take the lead in providing insurance cover for the maritime industry.
At the recently concluded Philippine Maritime Law Annual Conference jointly organized by the Maritime Law Association of the Philippines and PortCalls, Marine Underwriters Association of the Philippines chairman Carlos Yturzaeta said the industry needs an entity with large financial capability to cover insurance related to marine pollution and wreck removal. There is no current entity for such at this point.
Yturzaeta, who is also a member of the Technical Sub Committee on Marine-Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA), said there are efforts to complete draft marine insurance rules for submission to the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina).
“PIRA will recommend to Marina for GSIS to take the lead in providing the insurance cover since what is at stake is the interest of the public. Members of PIRA will have a choice to accept a share or not,” he explained.
“As signatory to the 1992 CLC (International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage) and 1992 Fund Conventions, the Philippine government may also develop a central mechanism that will ensure the regular and accurate reporting of persistent oils and the remittance of contributions to such funds,” Yturzaeta said.
Marina has yet to fully implement its mandatory protection and indemnity (P&I) coverage. The P&I policy currently in place applies to ships of 500 gross tons (GT) and above using persistent and non-persistent oil, operating in the domestic trade. Coverage excludes government-owned ships not engaged in commercial activities.
The liability is P5 million for any pollution accident involving ships 500 GT to less than 1,000 GT using persistent oil, and ships 500 GT to less 2,000 GT using non-persistent oil.
For vessels 1,000 GT to 5,000 GT using persistent oil, the P&I coverage is P50 million. The same liability exists for vessels 2,000 GT to 5,000 GT using non-persistent oil. For vessels 5,000 GT, the minimum liability is P75 million.
For wreck removal, the liability of ships 500 GT and less than 2,000 GT is P5 million and for vessels 2,000 GT and above, P20 million.
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