UK P&I Club
Growing world trade
Over the past decade there has been an unprecedented expansion in world trade and a corresponding growth of the shipping industry.
The world ocean-going merchant fleet has grown overall, from roughly 425 million gross tons in 1996 to more than 640 million gross tons a decade later. In the same period individual ships have become considerably larger and technically more complex.
The image of the supertanker carrying up to half a million tons of crude oil is familiar to the public mind. However, in recent years they have probably been unaware of the development of container ships that can each carry ten thousand of the freight containers that they see daily carried individually by road, or of ferries carrying 2,000 passengers each voyage or the cruise liner whose complement of passengers and crew totals 5,500 souls.
Sustainable development
Even the most remote or isolated countries depend on shipping. As the size and complexity of trade and the shipping industry advances so does the volume of risk. Shipping incidents require a fast and expert response to preserve life, the environment and property. Shipowners rely on their insurers to guide and pay for that response.
The UK P&I Club, is the world's largest mutual insurer of third party liabilities for ocean going ships. Over 150 million gross tons of owned and chartered shipping is collectively insured through the Club for its liabilities in respect of passengers, crew, cargoes, collisions, pollution and a variety of other injuries, damages and losses.
The Club has developed an extensive international network to serve a membership spanning nearly sixty countries. Locations include Piraeus, Isle of Man, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, New Jersey and San Francisco. In addition it has a network of more than 350 correspondents whose legal, technical and commercial skills support the Club’s ability to respond to any level of shipping incident anywhere in the world.
Education on avoiding accidents and incidents by way of loss prevention is a core activity for the UK P&I Club. The Club publishes a diverse range of materials from posters, bulletins, CDs and DVDs as well as maintaining the industry’s most comprehensive website on the subject.
Education and Careers
The Club annually provides an intensive educational event for young managers and executives in the shipping industry known as the “Insight” course. Attendees spend a week covering the essential skills and knowledge to respond shipping incidents. Close links with academic organisations such as the World Maritime University in Malmo, the International Maritime Law Institute are fostered with regular visits to the Club’s London office by their students.
P&I executives continue to experience considerable variety in their careers. Many executives regularly attend the offices of Club Members who are distributed around the world. The fast pace of technical and commercial change in shipping means there are always new skills and new concepts to be learned. The complex situations that arise in shipping often require the personal intervention and attendance of claims handlers.
The full range of Club activities and publications can be viewed via the UK Club's website www.ukpandi.com.
