Tonnage increased by 3% to 135 mill gt from 131 mill GT. This increase was achieved in spite of a small reduction in tonnage at renewal, as some members were not renewed, due either to unacceptable operating standards or to an unwillingness to align premiums paid with risk brought to the club.
The club delivered an investment return of 1.8% during the financial year; excluding negative currency movements the investment return was around 5.7%. This return drove a surplus of $11 mill and an increase in free reserves from $369 mill to $380 mill. This 3% increase in free reserves was in line with the growth in tonnage.
As a result of the club’s strong financial position, it has reduced the release calls for the P&I and defence classes to 2%, 3% and 7% for the 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 years, respectively. The club’s previous levels of release calls were already one of the lowest in the International Group, and these further reductions reflect the board’s confidence in the club’s outlook, the mutual said.
Jeremy Grose, Charles Taylor & Co CEO, manager of The Standard Club said:“The Standard Club achieved a good result over the past year, achieving a break-even underwriting result, steady growth and a proportionate increase in free reserves.
“We are focused on providing good-value, sustainable P&I insurance and related cover to our high-quality membership, combined with excellent financial security, market-leading service and a selective approach to growth. Our members spend a lot of money achieving industry-leading operating standards, and they don’t want to waste money on insurance. Our break-even result is ideal in the mutual context, and exactly in line with the board’s target,” he said.
In 2014, the club established the Singapore War Risks Mutual, a class within Standard Asia, providing war risks cover to Singapore-based operators. It was developed with the support of the Singapore Shipping Association and began underwriting on 20th February, 2015.
Another highlight was the development of The Standard Syndicate at Lloyd’s, which began underwriting on 1st April, 2015. This Syndicate offers a range of fixed premium covers for property, casualty and liability risks, to club members and other insureds. It focuses on hull, marine and energy liability, energy physical damage, D&O and E&O, marine and energy-related property, and cargo.
In an initiative to raise awareness of potential hazards at sea, The Standard Club and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) have joined forces to launch a ‘Spot the Hazard’ competition open to any seafarer worldwide.
With $10,000 of prize money, the competition has been designed to help those working at sea identify hazards and to promote the critical importance of accident prevention.
Seafarers entering the competition will be asked to identify hazards shown on a series of images depicting typical scenes on board ship. They are also invited to submit a safety idea relevant to the image that can be shared throughout the industry.
In order to ensure that seafarers from all ship departments and of all ranks can enter the competition, it features five separate images - the bridge, engine room, main-deck, galley and a port terminal scene. These were developed with the assistance of Witherby Publishing Group.
The instructions for entry into the competition have also been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Tagalog, Hindi and Mandarin. Seafarers can submit entries for as many of the five images as they wish, with the winner for each being awarded a prize of $2,000.
To be chosen as a winner, entrants must spot all 10 hazards correctly and submit the best safety idea in the category, which will be decided by the judging panel consisting of The Standard Club, ICS and an independent third party.
Yves Vandenborn, director of loss prevention at Charles Taylor, said: “Every year there are thousands of accidents that could have been prevented and we want to encourage all those working at sea to identify hazards and deal with them effectively. This competition has been designed to both raise awareness of what constitutes a hazard and to encourage an innovative approach to safety. We believe that everyone on board a ship is responsible for its safety and this is why we have made sure that the competition is open to serving seafarers of all ranks and nationalities.”
ICS secretary general, Peter Hinchliffe, said:“ICS is committed to the promotion of an effective safety culture throughout the global shipping industry. We therefore want to help seafarers understand the relationship between unsafe acts and serious incidents. Our goal in launching this new competition is to encourage all seafarers to think about safety as a matter of course during their everyday duties.”
The closing date for entry is 28th August, 2015.