There are also lesser-known companies, organisations operating on the fringes of the market and some whose credentials are questionable.
While the largest, most upstanding clubs and commercial insurers are properly regulated and supervised, anything goes at the bottom end of the market.
It could be argued that shipowners are big boys who do not need protection from their own folly. But if there is no P&I cover, who is there to pay for pollution clean-up, compensate dead, injured or abandoned seafarers, or cargo damaged as a result of being carelessly carried?
The failure of regulation and supervision by insurance and financial authorities is then compounded by the sloppiness and negligence of at least some flag states in checking the security and claims-paying...
