In this Insurance Institute of London (IIL) marine & energy lecture James Vavasour will walk through a few recent case studies, lessons learned, and what we as an industry need to better understand to mitigate any further exposure to all parties involved.

Sub-sea pipelay technology and its current applications which aren’t exactly breaking new ground, but something’s definitely changed. there’s a marked decrease in construction, particularly deep and ultra-deep water. Instead, sub-sea tiebacks are the most attractive option for many majors. With oil prices hovering well below $£80/barrel; it’s a cost driven market. Installation practices from the 80’s are back in fashion but not the people, particularly relating to shallow water operations. Installation contractors have idle vessels and as they are aggressive bid work, often lump-sum, the balance of day-rates and margins hinge against downtime. Meanwhile, the generic scopes of work are being stretched to meaningfully address warranty scopes which have been reduced to nearly a desk-top exercise.

Chair:
Melanie Raven, Senior Underwriter, Ark Syndicate.