The Swedish Club has launched its latest publication, Claims at a Glance, which provides an insight into the full range of claims the Club has handled over the last five years, and is intended as a tool to reduce the frequency of incidents for both P&I and H&M claims. With prevention at its heart, it covers the key lessons learned across a range of real life situations, and provides a useful update of data contained in its most recent loss prevention titles: P&I Claims Analysis; Main Engine Damage; Navigational Claims; Ice – Advice for Trading in the Polar Regions; Heavy Weather; and Wet Damage to Cargo.
Claims at a Glance investigates the causes of a wide range of incidents and makes practical recommendations on how to prevent them. It makes full use of Interactive Root Cause Analysis (IRCA) to analyse the root cause of a variety of claims, demonstrating that despite the seeming differences between incidents, the root causes are often very similar.
Lars A. Malm, Director, Strategic Business Development & Client Relations, explains:
“The Swedish Club uses the IRCA process widely in our organisation to help us see behind a problem, and identify key learnings that we can apply in our loss prevention activities. Like all insurers we handle a great many claims and have identified that many of the causes of these claims are recurring.
“The importance of establishing a good loss prevention culture in an organisation cannot be underestimated – we acknowledge that this is a time consuming process requiring great commitment. However when you consider that the average cost for a P&I claim is USD 80,000 and for H&M it is over USD 500,000, then the benefits of preventing even a single casualty can be considerable.”
Claims at a Glance provides a broad insight into the claims landscape, using case studies to reveal the stories behind the statistics. It looks at the most common and expensive claims across all vessel sectors, in addition to the profile of injury and illness claims, and provides practical advice on how to minimise exposure to risk across a wide range of operating conditions.
“Prevention is all about evaluating one’s own organisation, knowing how people act and understanding what is needed to assist all personnel to perform safely in a safe environment, explains Mr Malm.”The main focus should be on training personnel both at sea and ashore in understanding and recognising when a vessel or person is exposed to an unacceptable risk.”
The Executive Summary of the report identifies the following with respect to Protection & Indemnity (P&I ) Claims:
Main areas of concern
- Not cleaning and preparing the cargo room properly
- Poor maintenance
- Inherent vice* – cargo not in proper condition when loaded
- Not securing cargo according to the cargo manual
- Cargo manifest is not correct and does not include all IMDG (International Maritime Dangerous Goods) cargo
- Crew ignoring bilge alarms in cargo holds
- Not avoiding heavy weather and excessive speed in heavy weather
- Procedures not implemented correctly
- Equipment not secured for sea
- Not issuing or following work permits and risk assessments
Prevention
- Load as per the cargo securing manual and cargo plan
- Conduct a survey of the cargo condition throughout the entire loading operation and take samples
- Consult IMDG and IMSBC (International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes Code) for characteristics of commodities
- Weather routeing should be used to avoid heavy weather
- The crew should keep detailed records of the cargo on board
- Plans for loading/discharging to be made and followed in detail and documented
- Ensure there are no obstacles or debris on the deck or other working areas
- All officers should receive training on how to identify risks and ensure they understand how to use risk assessments
*Inherent vice: risk of deterioration of goods shipped as a result of their natural behaviour in the ordinary course of a voyage without the intervention of any random external accident or casualty
Also, the Executive Summary of the report identifies the following with respect to Hull & Machinery (H&M) Claims:
Main areas of concern
- Insufficient planning and experience/training
- Non-compliance with the manager’s procedures
- Procedures that are unclear, not comprehensive enough or not implemented correctly
- Not having experts attending major overhauls
- Not understanding limitations and how to properly use equipment and technology
- Poor lookout
- Lack of communication
- Not completing a correct passage plan
Prevention – Navigational claims
- Have a detailed navigation policy which includes descriptions and suggested settings for the bridge equipment
- Have multiple officers on the bridge during critical operations so one person’s mistake can be detected and rectified
- Carry out a thorough audit of the navigation policy during the internal audit
- Implement MRM (Maritime Resource Management) training which focuses on proper communication
- Ensure communication is by closed loop communication
Prevention – Machinery
- Carry out on board fuel management and fuel system audits where the various parts (including separators) of the fuel treatment plant should be checked for proper functions
- Monitor the quality of the lubrication oil and ensure that samples of lubrication oils are sent ashore for analysis at least every three months, with a complete lube oil charge spare retained on board
- During major overhauls it is highly recommended to have an expert in attendance
You may read Club’s latest publication by clicking below
Source: The Swedish P&I Club