CBMU Virtual Spring Conference 2022

Opening Remarks and President’s Report

Matthew Lewis, CBMU President, CNA

Matthew has overall responsibility for CNA’s Canadian Marine Insurance operations across Cargo, Liability and Hull lines.  He is responsible for aligning branch structure for Marine business with CNA’s strategy to drive profitable growth. Prior to joining CNA in 2008, Matthew worked for Nacora Insurance Brokers as Managing Director of their UK operations, followed by relocation to Canada in 2003 to take over the Chief Operating Officer role for Nacora in Canada.  Nacora specializes in Marine business and are a wholly owned subsidiary of the International shipping and forwarding group Kuehne & Nagel.  Prior to joining Nacora in 1995, Matthew spent 6 years working for Eagle Star Insurance Company in various underwriting roles within their Marine Department. He received a bachelor’s degree in Nautical Studies majoring in marine law and shipping economics from Polytechnic Southwest, Plymouth, UK and subsequently earned various professional qualifications including Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute (ACII), Chartered Insurance Practitioner (CIP), and Registered Insurance Broker of Ontario (unrestricted license). Matthew has been serving on the CBMU Board of Directors since 2014 and was elected CBMU President in May, 2020.

Industry Updates from IUMI, AIMU, MIABC and CMLA 
Industry leaders from national and international marine insurance associations will provide reports on their respective associations’ activities as well as their countries’ market reports. 

Richard Turner, President, IUMI

Richard has worked in insurance for 38 years, and for virtually all of that time, exclusively in marine insurance. He has worked at the highest leadership level in the Marine insurance sector and in multi-specialty lines. He was CEO of RSA Luxembourg (until 2020) and prior to that, head of RSA’s European Specialty lines business from 2017 onwards. Earlier in his career, he ran the London Market Marine operation of RSA, and then its wider UK & European Marine business. Between 2012 and 2016, he was Global Marine Director at RSA. In 2020, Richard was appointed as Global Head of Marine at Victor International, one of the largest international MGAs. Richard was elected President of the International Union of Marine Insurance in 2018, having previously served on IUMI’s Executive Committee from 2011 to 2015. He is a member of IUMI’s Policy Forum, Education Forum and Data & Digitalisation Forum.

Sean Dalton, Director of Finances, AIMU

Sean Dalton is Executive Vice President and the Head of Marine Underwriting, NA for Munich Re America based in New York. He leads the reinsurance team responsible for Marine in the US and Canada. Sean serves the Marine industry through a variety of organizations. He is a member of the Policy Forum for International Union of Marine Insurers (IUMI) and the former Chairman of the IUMI Cargo Committee. Sean serves as an Officer and the Director of Finance for the American Institute of Marine Underwriters (AIMU) as well as on their Board of Directors. He is Vice Chair of the National Cargo Bureau (NCB). Sean is also a member of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) serving on their vessel classification committee. Sean is a graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point. He earned a Master’s degree from State University of New York Maritime College and served as a Lieutenant for the United States Navy Reserve from 1988 – 1999. Sean holds the professional designations of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and Associate in Marine Insurance Management (AMIM). He received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Institute of Marine Underwriters and the Harold Jackson Scholarship in Marine Insurance from the College of Insurance (SJU) and the American Institute of Marine Underwriters.

Mark Wilson, Vice President, MIABC

Mark began his insurance career in 2008 after his departure from the United States Coast Guard.  He began working for a regional insurance brokerage designing insurance products catered to the local fishing and eco-tourism industry.  From there he became the head of commercial marine for a national Canadian brokerage and today he currently works as the placement specialist for commercial marine & transportation risks in Marsh Canada’s Vancouver office.  Mark joined the MIABC in 2017 as Treasurer and became Vice President in 2022.  The MIABC is a non-profit organization focused on promoting education, harmony, and fellowship among insurance professionals in British Columbia.   

J. Paul M. Harquail, President, CMLA

Paul Harquail, ACIArb, is a bilingual partner in the Saint John office of Stewart McKelvey and Chair of the Firm’s Maritime and Transportation Practice Group. Paul’s practice focuses on maritime and transportation law, as well as insurance and corporate-based litigation/arbitration, tax litigation, and environmental law. His clients include P & I Clubs, insurance and transportation companies, corporate and personal taxpayers, large corporate interests, and companies in resource/transportation-based industries. Paul is consistently recognized by a number of industry publications as a leader in maritime law and environmental law. He currently serves as the National President of the Canadian Maritime Law Association and is Chair of the Saint John Seafarers’ Mission Board of Directors.

Transport Canada Small Vessel Compliance Program

Mr. Luc Tremblay will provide an overview of Transport Canada's Small Vessel Compliance Program which was designed  to inform owners/operators of small domestic vessels under 15 GT  to better understand and meet their regulatory obligations.   His presentation will highlight the benefits and challenges of the program, and  identify the major milestones since its inception in 2012. Mr. Tremblay will offer insights on how CBMI could work with Transport Canada on raising awareness of this innovative program,  incentivize enrollment, and help the elevate safety culture in these small vessel operations.  

Luc Tremblay, Executive Director/ Domestic Vessels Regulatory Oversight (AMSD), Marine Safety and Security

Mr. Tremblay is the Executive Director for Domestic Vessels Regulatory Oversight in Transport Canada Marine Safety and Security. In this role he is responsible for the inspection, certification, and the enforcement of regulations for all Canadian vessels. He is also responsible for the development of regulations related to design, construction and safety equipment of vessels, and for safety management system. Prior to joining Transport Canada in 2007, Mr. Tremblay has occupied various positions in the private sector, as a marine consultant and lead designer in a major shipyard. Mr. Tremblay hold a diploma in Naval Architecture from the Institut maritime du Québec, and a degree in Engineering Technology from Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Break

Russia’s war in Ukraine and its impact on marine insurance (sanctions and war risks)

This talk will detail how the London market’s Joint War Committee took the steps it did, look at some of the practical questions that war underwriters are faced with, and also cover some of the aspects and challenges that arose from the rapid issuance of complex and differing sanctions. 

Neil Roberts, Head of Marine and Aviation, Lloyd’s Market Association

Neil Roberts has worked in the London insurance market since 1985. He is Head of Marine and Aviation for the Lloyd’s Market Association and is secretary to the London Market’s Joint War Committee which issues the advisory Listed Areas to insurers. Additionally, he acts as liaison with the wider maritime community, on both a technical and political level at both commercial and government levels, on technical and maritime security issues. He is also secretary to IUMI’s Ocean Hull Committee and a member of the IUMI Policy Forum. 

Marine Risk Landscape Challenges

This presentation will discuss a cargo’s journey in today’s marine risk cycle. Rich and Taylor will touch on a high-level overview of ocean transit and vessel casualty trends while highlighting how vessel tonnage currently trading around the globe is impacting the market. They will discuss how the next couple years relative to shipping volume and equipment demand will impact how the risk profile will change considering the global fleet currently running and the infrastructure expected to support it.   They will conclude with an update of challenges relative to cargo accumulation in ports during transit, the stretched infrastructure supporting supply chain continuity and the security risk landscape that is becoming more intricate and emboldened cargo theft activity.

Richard Lawson, Enterprise Supply Chain & Security Risk, Zurich North America

Richard Lawson is the current Assistant Vice President of Zurich’s Marine Risk engineering team in the US. With a career spanning over 30 years, Rich’s background began in Transportation and Logistics and included 15 years as a Marine surveyor. With a concentration on vessel operations, project cargo, multimodal and Supply chain security, he transitioned to the Marine insurance industry in 2010.
Rich has dedicated his experience supporting Global Marine Insurance programs while advocating for client engagement and mitigating Supply chain disruption throughout the Insurance risk cycle. He is an active member of the Transport Asset Protection Association (TAPA) and currently sits on the American institute of Marine Underwriters (AIMU) Technical committee.  In years past he has co-chaired several White Papers and given presentations at the AIMU and the National Association of Marine Surveyors (NAMS).

Taylor Sjoberg, Marine Risk Engineering Consultant, Zurich North America

Taylor Sjoberg is a Senior Risk Engineering Consultant at Zurich North America. Joining Zurich in 2016 following the completion of his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Taylor has 6 years of industry knowledge across multiple lines of business. With a multi-discipline skill set in both Property and Marine Risk Engineering/Loss Control, this has provided Taylor with the knowledge to not only support the traditional Ocean Marine exposures (Supply Chain Security, Project Cargo, Hull Machinery & Liability, Transit Analysis) but has also allowed him to assess and manage the global stock throughput portfolio which has emerged greatly in the Marine Cargo Insurance space.
With a particular interest in Supply Chain Security, analytics and technology-based solutions, Taylor has worked with clients in industries such as High-Tech, Pharmaceutical, Telecommunications and others to help reinforce their Supply Chains through the implementation of robust standards of care, carrier contractual agreements, hard & soft security measures and more. Taylor is part of Zurich’s Global Risk Engineering Technical Center and has contributed over the years to the drafting of Marine focused Risk Topics and Global Seminars.