August 20, 2012

Types Of Risks Covered By Modern Marine Insurance


The marine insurance covers many risks such as perils of sea, fire occurred in the ship, theft, war risks, land risk etc.

 The types of risks covered by marine insurance are as follows:

1. Perils of the sea

Perils of sea means any type of incident of contingent accidents or casualties at the sea. In course of the voyage, the ship may be damaged due to sea storm, sea pirates, tsunami and accidents of any kind. These all risks are covered by marine insurance.

2. Fire

It is likely that fire may occur in the ship, when it is voyage.Inflammable items such as coal, oil, electricity and others are required in larger quantity for the operation of ship. Thus, fire may be included as risk in marine insurance.

3. Theft

The goods may be stolen during a sea voyage. Therefore, theft is one of the risks associated with the sea transportation. For the purpose of marine insurance, the thieves must not be the captain and his crew themselves or the people traveling by the ship. They must be outsiders, who use force for stealing goods.

risk covered by marine insurance

4. War risks

War risks are also covered by modern marine insurance. The shipping companies may have to face many risks during the war period. There may exist a risk of loss of ship, cargo and freight due to attacks and counter defensive operations. War risks are insurable in marine insurance.

5. Land risk

Marine insurance indemnifies the subject-matter (cargo) of the parties right from the godown of the exporting country to the godown of the importing country against any risk of loss. The risks of loss associated with other means of transportation such as railways, roadways and others, warehouses, ports of both the countries and others are included and covered under marine insurance.

6. Jettison

Jettison means throwing overboard a part of cargo or any other goods in order to reduce the weight in the ship. Some of the cargo is deliberately thrown away with the object of preventing the ship from further damage. Loss caused by this method is one kind of marine risk and it can be covered under the marine insurance policy.