Everything You Need to Know About Marine Insurance in Cameroon
Definitions:
Insurance value: the total cover required
Insurance premium: the amount to be paid annually to the insurance company, it is always a specific percentage of the value and in most cases paid in four installments annually
The ship owner is in many cases forced to cover his ship with insurance because it is required by a charterer or by the port authority, not always his desire to protect his ship and properties
The value of the insurance depends on the following factors:
Insurance company policy
Owner requirements: The value he needs
Area of navigation: War regions increase the insurance premium and decrease the cover value
Class of the ship: standard and reputation of the class encourage the insurance company to accept the higher cover value
Age of the ship: Old ships pay higher premiums and get lower cover value
Documents issued by the insurance company:
Insurance policy: states all terms of the insurance. Valid for one year
Insurance certificate (blue card): is issued upon request from the owner to submit to a third party, such as flag or charterer, and in all cases should be addressed to the required party, the insurance can issue more than one blue card to state the cover of different items such as Bunker, Wreck removal etc
Required documents for the insurance
Copy of valid flag certificates
Copy of valid class and statutory certificates
Application
Types of ships insurance are as follows:
Hull and machinery insurance: it covers the partial damage of the ship hull or, machinery and also the total loss of the ship
Protection and Indemnity (P&I): this insurance covers the compensation imposed on the owner due to one of the following or all:
Crew compensations due to sickness or injuries during their duty
Pollution cases either by cargo or bunker
Wreck removal
Accidents
- Cargo insurance: sometimes included in P&I and sometimes individual when higher values are required
Always be sure that P&I insurance covers the Bunker and wreck removal as a minimum to be able to process the BCC and WR certificates by the flag
Article by CHUO ANGABUA JUNIOR
‘’The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. We insist specialist advice be sought depending on your specific circumstance’’
TO TALK WITH A SPECIALIST
