Marine insurance experts have called for the establishment of a GCC or even a Gulf-Asian group that specialises in marine insurance and reinsurance operations, covering ships, cargo, transport of goods, oil and petrochemicals, etc.
The call, made at the Dubai Marine Insurance Conference held in November, was in response to ongoing efforts to reinforce stability in the insurance prices and to retain the largest share of insurance premiums locally or in the Gulf regionally, according to local media reports.
Mr Khamis Buamim, CEO of Gulf Navigation Holding said at the conference, “More than 90% of marine insurance operations are carried out outside the region through non-local insurers, which means a significant loss of premiums.
“Moreover, the situation does not reflect the strength and reality of the national economy and active trading movements.”
He highlighted the importance of having insurance institutions or a group capable of carrying out large insurance operations to provide the national economy with insurance premiums commensurate with the size of the UAE’s strong economy, which is characterised by a stable investment environment and can continue to grow.
Mr Khaled Meftah, director of business development at the Dubai Maritime City Authority disclosed that the total marine premiums in the UAE insurance market rose to AED1.1bn ($299.5m) in 2017, higher by 10% over the previous year.
He added that domestic insurers enjoyed 71% of the local marine insurance market against 29% for foreign owned companies.
Captain Gamal Fekry, managing director of MC Ship Management in Dubai said more and more shipping and oil tanker companies are focusing on proactive actions to reduce the high cost of marine insurance by adopting risk-management systems. He added that the volume of marine insurance in the Gulf region stands at $26bn annually. M
AED1 = $0.27