[190217.EN.BIZ] London P&I Club Loses Cosco's Business Following Merger With China Shipping

COSCO has terminated its account with London P&I Club amid a restructuring of the Chinese state-owned giant's marine insurance arrangements following its merger with China Shipping.

Other clubs are also likely to be caught out by the development, as the owner hitherto split its huge fleet among a number of providers, reported UK's Lloyd's List.

In practice, each unit within the group can place its P&I as it sees fit. Many of its mainland-based subsidiaries are thought to use China P&I, for instance.

China Cosco Shipping Group (CCSG) chief executive Xu Lirong presides over a shipping empire with assets valued at US$90 billion. In total, CCSG comprises 1,114 vessels with a capacity of 85.3 million dwt, making it the world's number one shipowner.

Its containership fleet capacity is 1.58 million TEU, ranking it fourth in the world, and that figure tops two million TEU, if its orderbook is included.

London Club chief executive Ian Gooch told Lloyd's List: "As a result of the consolidation, it looks as if they are making alternative arrangements. That will include a number of clubs, and we are one of them. We are seeing renewals not proceed, and terminations of entries this year."

However, Mr Gooch was keen to stress that London Club would not be the only marine mutual in the firing line, and other areas of its activities were in good shape.

"It is a relationship we have had for a number of years, but it comes during a renewal in which we have seen a number of additions to the club from fleets based in Greece, Turkey, China and Singapore," he said.

Source : HKSG.