Guide on rocks

North P&I Club has just published a guide to help ships’ bridge teams avoid the mistakes which lead to hitting rocks, docks and other fixed or floating objects (FFO). Collectively known as ‘admiralty’ incidents, they tend to result in the most expensive insurance claims against P&I clubs. During the 2013/14 policy year, North experienced its two largest claims ever and both were admiralty related. One involved the grounding of bulk carrier Smart in South Africa in August 2013, while the other resulted from tanker Wu Yi San contacting an oil terminal in South Korea in January 2014. Potential liabilities for the two claims are estimated to be more than US$100m.