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Hurricane season doesn't announce itself with much warning. One week, there's a tropical wave being monitored in the Atlantic. The next, it has a name, a track, and a wall of moratoriums behind it. That's the moment agents don't want to be having coverage conversations for the first time. The value of a proactive agent isn't measured when everything goes smoothly. It's measured when a storm is three days out, and a client calls with questions. The agents who proactively reach

What vessel operators need to know about Maritime Employers Liability, and why standard coverage isn’t enough. Byron Gizoni was a rigging foreman at a ship repair facility in San Diego. He worked on floating platforms, pontoon barges, crane barges, and diver’s barges that had no power or steering of their own. Tugboats moved them into position alongside vessels being repaired. Gizoni rode those platforms as they were towed, occasionally served as a lookout, gave maneuvering s

The theory became reality in early April. A Marshall Islands-flagged tanker called the Garnet Express loaded jet fuel at Marathon Petroleum’s Anacortes refinery in Washington State and headed south to the San Francisco area. It was one of the first foreign-flagged vessels to move refined product between U.S. ports under the 2026 Jones Act waiver, and it made headlines precisely because it was still so unusual. But for marine insurers and the agents who place marine accounts,

An agent submitted what appeared to be a straightforward general contractor account. The client did marine construction—seawalls, dock repairs, shoreline stabilization—but the agent figured it was essentially land-based work that happened near water. State workers' comp and standard GL felt sufficient. When an employee was injured while working on a partially submerged piling, the workers' comp claim was denied because the work qualified under Longshore jurisdiction. The GL c

Why the President Authorized the Waiver
 President Trump authorized the temporary suspension of the Jones Act in response to rapidly rising gasoline and fuel prices driven by the Iran conflict. The war severely disrupted global oil supply chains, including the effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, a route for nearly 15 million barrels of oil per day. Combined with Brent crude nearing $110 per barrel, these pressures contributed to rapid increases in domestic fuel costs.

Ports and terminals are some of the most complex environments in marine insurance. They often sit at the intersection of land-based operations and marine activity, which can make exposures harder to spot and easier to underestimate.

 On paper, two terminal operations may look similar. In reality, small differences in how work is performed, where employees operate, and how vessels are involved can significantly change the risk profile.

 For agents working with ports, termina

The escalating conflict in the Middle East has created one of the most rapidly shifting marine insurance environments in recent memory. Here is what is happening, what it means for coverage, and where things stand today. What Changed Following U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran in late February, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared the Strait of Hormuz "closed" and threatened to attack any vessel attempting to transit. The insurance market responded immediat

For decades, marine liability followed a predictable framework: shipowners’ exposure was capped based on vessel tonnage under international conventions, and wreck removal costs sat comfortably within that limit. That framework is breaking down. Recent legal and regulatory developments are transforming wreck removal from a manageable component of liability into an increasingly uncapped exposure – one that can far exceed all other claim costs. What's Driving the Change Evolving

Three months ago, an agent called us about a client who'd just received a Longshore claim for an injury that happened on a Tuesday afternoon dock inspection. The employee spent approximately 10% of his time near water. The business had carried state workers' compensation for eight years without issue. The claim was denied. State comp doesn't cover Longshore exposures, and the employer is now facing the full cost of the injury, medical expenses, legal fees, and potentially tor

Longshore exposure is one of the most challenging areas of marine insurance for agents. The U.S. Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (USL&H) regulations are complex, and coverage often hinges on the specifics of the work being done. Two clients may look similar on paper but have very different exposure once you look more closely at job duties, work locations, and vessel involvement. Add in changing operations, mixed roles, or third-party labor, and it becomes easy

Edison Chouest Offshore has launched the first U.S.-built plug-in hybrid vessel designed to support offshore wind operations. ECO Liberty is the first Jones Act–compliant plug-in hybrid Service Operations Vessel (SOV) in the U.S. offshore wind sector. This innovation marks a pivotal step in the transition toward cleaner, more efficient maritime operations. The vessel can operate using traditional diesel power or switch to battery-electric mode, reducing emissions while improv

In the rush to get a vessel underway, small details can have major consequences. A recent incident involving a bulk carrier and a pilot attempting to board serves as a stark reminder. Working quickly to get the vessel underway on schedule, the crew prematurely disconnected the gangway, removing the safety netting, and unintentionally leaving a dangerous gap between the accommodation ladder and the pier. When the pilot arrived, he found the gap too large to cross safely. Focus