North East shipping insurance specialist North P&I Club is providing cover for more ships than ever before, latest results reveal.
The Newcastle Quayside-based firm insured an additional 20 million tonnes of international ocean-going vessels 鈥 referred to in the industry as 鈥渢onnage鈥 鈥 bringing the total to 160 million gross tonnes.
North, which operates across the world, saw premium income for the 2019/20 year increase by 拢1.6m to 拢281m.
It comes as North has diversified its business to offer shipping customers, known as members, a broader range of insurance products.
That growth includes the launch of North Hull which offers new products for ocean-going vessels, and the hull and machinery products offered via North鈥檚 Sunderland Marine business.
During the year North saw return on investment of 拢52m, a 拢28.5m increase on the previous year鈥檚 results.
Paul Jennings, chief executive of North, said: 鈥淚n the last year, North insured more tonnage than ever before, continued to diversify our income base to enable our members to trade with confidence and strengthened our team; and we are now supporting members through the COVID-19 pandemic.
鈥淲e鈥檙e extremely proud to be a North East-headquartered business that is one of the leading marine insurers in the world, providing critical to cover to this highly important industry which is responsible for keeping supplies of products moving.
鈥淭his is North鈥檚 160th year, and what better way to mark that occasion than by protecting even more ships than ever before.鈥
Overall an increase in the number and value of claims 鈥 circa 拢6.5m reflects North鈥檚 growth in the number of members insured.
Two significant shipping incidents impacted North鈥檚 underwriting figures 鈥 the capsizing of cargo ship the Grande America in the Bay of Biscay and the capsizing of another cargo ship, the Golden Ray, off the coast of Georgia, US.
The claims are two of the largest ever handled by North and the total cost of dealing with the Golden Ray claim is expected to reach 拢324m.
Mr Jennings added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 unusual for two incidents of the scale of the Grande America and Golden Ray to occur in the same year.
鈥淥ur job, as a protection and indemnity club, is to protect our members 鈥 and that is exactly what we鈥檝e done by working extensively with local authorities and international experts to ensure that these claims are handled in a cost effective way.
鈥淎s a highly strong and sustainable club we can offer robust support in instances such as this.鈥
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, North鈥檚 international team have continued to work remotely.
