IG P&I Group’s Large Casualty Working Group has developed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Group and national administrations/authorities, setting out a process for streamlining cooperation and coordination in the aftermath of major casualty incidents, reports Michael Kelleher, Large Casualty Working Group Chairman, in IG P&I’s just-published 2017 annual report.
In 2013, the Large Casualty working group, which was established in response to the Costa Concordia and Rena disasters, and which comprises a number of experienced senior club managers, undertook a review of the 20 most expensive large casualties involving removal of wreck operations impacting on the pool and, in some cases, the Group’s reinsurers.
The primary objectives of the review were to identify the main factors driving the costs involved in large-scale removal of wreck operations and to assess and provide guidance on where measures could be undertaken to mitigate such costs.
In 2016 the review was updated to include analysis of a further six large casualty incidents involving removal of wreck operations. In light of that analysis the original review’s recommendations were updated, including in relation to the values to be derived from the – increasingly common — engagement of specialist risk consultants in the response management following large casualty incidents.
One of the recommendations of the original review was to engage with state maritime administrations and authorities with a view to raising levels of mutual knowledge, understanding and cooperation with such bodies, which led to the MoU.
Kelleher said that the Group had approached a number of administrations around the world on the concept, and that MoUs had been signed with South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the UK, while discussions were ongoing with a number of other states, with additional approaches scheduled to be followed up during 2017 to EU member states and South American maritime administrations.
Kelleher noted that the review of casualties over the period 2002-2016 revealed that, apart from the Costa Concordia and Rena disasters, the remaining 24 casualties were dealt with effectively. http://www.igpandi.org/article/annual-review