Marine Insurance Clauses
Since the shipping business is your source of income, you made sure that your Marine Insurance policies, that you took out to protect your business interests, included Marine Insurance Clauses that would provide insurance protection to your cargo. These various insurance coverage clauses will ensure that your business is protected against any type of situation that might occur on land and sea, where your cargo might be subjected to any type of loss.
These Marine Insurance clauses were necessary because the sea is a mighty force to reckon with, and at times, there might be reason to suspect a loss of cargo is possible due to stormy seas. It is your responsibility to ensure that all of the cargos in your holds is protected, and when it is, you are ensuring that your business interests are protected at the same time.
The Marine Insurance clauses that you placed in your policies are Institute Cargo Clauses, and they were specifically created to provide cargo with replacement protection. There are three of these clauses that can be chosen for your Marine Insurance policies, and each clause offers protection to cargo on a situational basis. The ICC-A clause covers all risks for cargo loss or damage, and can be modified to specifically exclude some cargo items that you have below decks.
The Institute Cargo Clause A is a very versatile form of Marine Insurance clauses because it allows you to separate your cargo coverage and not insure items in your cargo that you feel do not need any sort of replacement protection. This cargo can be items that you personally own, and have placed in your storage rooms for safe passage. This clause will also let you protect your other cargo from malicious damage and piracy.
The Institute Cargo clause B is also very useful, when you feel that the cargo in your possession might be subjected to damages that could be caused by an earthquake, lightning, or from other mishaps at sea, that would cause the cargo to wash over the side. The Institute Cargo clause B was placed on every cargo item on your manifest because it would offer protection to your cargo in port and underway. You made sure that your Marine Insurance coverage included this clause before you left port with your cargo. This clause also protects the cargo when it is being loaded and unloaded on to the vessel at the loading docks.
The Institute Cargo clause C is useful, but many Captains hope that they will never have to file a claim on it. Filing a claim using this clause would mean that the shipping vessel had run aground, or had in fact, sunk to the bottom of the sea and all cargo onboard was lost. It would also cover cargo that had been lost due to a trail derailment when it was in transit to your next port of call.
by Sally.Anderson 19 years ago