The marine insurance industry must innovate and adapt to prosper, International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) President Ole Wikborg says.

The key to survival is “not being the strongest, but the fittest”, he told the IUMI conference in London last week.

“Being innovative, flexible and adaptable is the best way to respond to the ever-changing needs of those who require our services.”

More than just financial risk relief is required, he says.

“A part of the package must be a genuine risk management component, where we actively put our professional, hard-earned and often expensive knowledge and expertise to use.

“We must learn to apply our claim history to broaden the scope of what we can do and not use it as an excuse to put limits on our willingness to respond to new opportunities and risks.”

Mr Wikborg says three major issues “continue to seriously affect our business”.

The first is the safety of container ships and cargo, as highlighted by the fire on the MSC Flaminia in July last year as it travelled from the US west coast to Europe.

The ship, carrying 2876 containers, was abandoned and towed to Europe, where it was denied refuge by several countries before being accepted by Germany.

Hull and machinery underwriters  will pay out about $US25 million ($26.35 million), while cargo claims will be $US30 million-$US40 million ($31.62 million to $42.16 million).

Several seamen died tackling the blaze. Mr Wikborg says firefighting on major container vessels is a concern. “SOLAS [safety of lives at sea] rules are not sufficient for this kind of modern container vessel.”

The second issue is piracy. There is now less activity in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean thanks to the presence of naval forces and armed guards, but the situation is worsening in the Gulf of Guinea.

Cargo liquefaction – fine-particle cargoes turning to fluids en route, causing cargo shift and a loss of stability – is the third issue.

Measures have been introduced but “vessels continue to lose their stability, with fatal consequences”.

There was one total loss incident in February and one in August, Mr Wikborg says.

“We need to renew our focus on this problem – it has not gone away.”