NorthStandard Joins Sustainable Shipping Initiative to Focus on Seafarer Risk
Key Takeaways
- •NorthStandard, formed in early 2023 through the merger of the North of England P&I Association and the Standard Club, is one of the largest members of the International Group of P&I Clubs, which covers much of the world's merchant fleet against third-party liabilities.
- •The Sustainable Shipping Initiative, founded in 2010, is a multi-stakeholder coalition whose members include shipowners, shipyards, technical and assurance providers, charterers and NGOs across the maritime value chain.
- •The collaboration will focus on making seafarer safety, wellbeing, welfare and workforce conditions more visible in operational and commercial decisions.
- •Seafarer welfare has drawn sustained industry attention since the COVID-19 crew change crisis, which prompted initiatives such as the 2021 Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change.
- •An estimated 1.9 million seafarers crew the global merchant fleet, which carries around 90% of world trade by volume.
Marine insurer NorthStandard has joined the Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI), bringing its risk expertise to the organization's Human Risk & Resilience platform.
NorthStandard, formed in early 2023 through the merger of the North of England P&I Association and the Standard Club, is one of the largest members of the International Group of P&I Clubs, the association of mutual insurers that covers much of the world's merchant fleet against third-party liabilities, including crew injury, illness, loss of life and repatriation. Its entry adds an insurance perspective to a multi-stakeholder coalition founded in 2010 whose members span shipowners, shipyards, technical and assurance providers, charterers and NGOs across the maritime value chain.
The focus of the work will be on making seafarer safety, wellbeing, welfare and workforce conditions more visible in operational and commercial decisions, SSI said in a statement on its website on Tuesday.
Seafarer welfare has drawn sustained industry attention since the COVID-19 crew change crisis, which at its peak left hundreds of thousands of seafarers working beyond their contracts or stranded ashore, prompting initiatives such as the 2021 Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change and renewed focus on Maritime Labour Convention standards. An estimated 1.9 million seafarers crew the global merchant fleet, which carries around 90% of world trade by volume, making workforce conditions an operational and commercial issue for insurers as well as shipowners.
“As a mutual insurer, we recognise that people are at the heart of global trade and we are pleased to be joining the work of the SSI's Human Risk & Resilience workstream,” Yves Vandenborn, Head of Loss Prevention Asia Pacific at NorthStandard, said.
"A safe and successful shipping industry depends on the people who crew it, and insurers understand risk to those people with a rigour few others in the sector can match,” Ellie Besley-Gould, Chief Executive of the Sustainable Shipping Initiative, said.
Ship & Bunker News Team
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