Britannia announced that it has become the first P&I Club to be accepted as a member of the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN). By joining MACN, Britannia aspires to provide the Network with input from an insurance sector perspective.
Talking about entering MACN, Andrew Cutler, CEO of Britannia’s Managers Tindall Riley, highlighted the the Club is proud of this development. He also added that tackling corruption is crucial to make sure that companies in the maritime sector can protect their crew and staff, reduce operational risk, and trade fairly and on an equal footing.
Britannia is often called for support whenever a Member resists unlawful demands and the liberty of the ship or crew is threatened. In this context, P&I Clubs play a vital role when their members stand up to corrupt demands
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In addition, MACN Director, Cecilia Müller Torbrand, commented on the importance of Britannia joining the Network, saying that the effect of maritime corruption is felt across the industry. Now, Britannia’s recognition of the problem, along with their support for MACN, is an important step in the industry showing a united front against corrupt practices, she added.
Moreover, ohn Sypnowich, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, The CSL Group Inc., and Chair of MACN, stated that:
We are very excited to have Britannia as our first P&I Club Member. P&I Clubs can play a major role in MACN’s initiatives, including the anonymous reporting of incidents, root cause analysis, collective action, and local training. Having Britannia on board will further strengthen our membership and will increase our ability to make lasting change
Established in 2011 by a group of maritime companies committed to eradicating the industry of all forms of corruption, MACN has grown into a global business network of over 100 members, representing a sizeable percentage of the global fleet. Among others, the following are member of MACN:
- BP;
- Cargill;
- CMA CGM;
- Hapag-Lloyd;
- Maersk;
- MOL;
- MSC;
- NYK Line;
- Shell;
- Total;
- Wallem.
Speaking on SAFETY4SEA, Cecilia Müller Torbrand noted that corruption cannot be easily or quickly eradicated, however, the support of the project by other organizations – counting more than 100 members – is a positive sign toward addressing it.
Currently, MACN has shed its focus on promoting a global anonymous incident reporting system for seafarers while it looks for further developing its projects in the Suez Canal, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Argentina and starting a new one in India. Mrs Torbrand also highlights that the collection of data related to corruption incidents and lessons learned are vital for both project prioritization and impact assessment.
