Armada Risk Partners continues to be an emerging force in the maritime ports and terminal insurance industry. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Armada already has a roster of international container and cruise ports on its books.
According to Ed McNamara, Armada CEO, “We add value to our port and terminal clients. Too often what are seeing increasing premiums matched with decreasing coverages. In today’s volatile world that simply is not good enough.”
Armada’s ports and terminals team is highly experienced at identifying coverage gaps as well as inferior terms and conditions in current coverage programs. Armada completes a deep dive analysis to be in the best possible position to negotiate the most comprehensive coverage coupled with a superior pricing structure.
When looking at the range of issues facing the port sector today, like logistical challenges of bottlenecked ports, extreme weather, civil disruption, accidents, and industrial action there is so much that can, and does, go wrong. The world is changing, and new threats are emerging.
An exposure outside of a ports control which has consistently left ports vulnerable is hurricane damage. With the impact of climate change, there has been an increase in the frequency of flooding and hurricanes in the Caribbean, Gulf Coast and Eastern seaboard of the Americas. Consider the serious risk of a hurricane blocking access to a port. When this happens, there isuncertainty as to who will get it opened, how fast and most importantly, who will pay for it?
Most port and terminal owners believe the government will unblock their port because of the urgency and importance of recovering access to the port to bring in food, water, and materials. This mindset may be a high-risk strategy as Government’s often take a long time and have many bureaucratic barriers and other priorities in an emergency. This can result in potentially massive disruption and a huge loss of income if port operations are paralyzed. Similar disruption problems can occur when ships damage port infrastructure.
On a global scale, we are seeing tensions rise and global investments are coming under greater scrutiny. Ports are right on the front line of this. With tens of millions of dollars on the line, port owners and investors should start to factor in a far higher probability of political interference in their insurance calculations.
With the constant increase in rates and premiums, ports and terminals continue to look at ways tolower insurance costs but are not realizing that some coverages that are being cut to support that savings are critical. When developing a risk management strategy and structuring a liability insurance program, it’s imperative that ports and terminals partner with an experienced team to be sure that a gap in coverage is not the consequence of premium savings.
Background
Armada Risk Partners was founded in 2015. The company is one of the fastest growing independent insurance brokerages in the United States and was awarded the Fast Brokerage Award by the Insurance Business America (IBA) in 2022.
Armada is a full-service commercial insurance broker offering property & casualty, health & benefits, private risk, and life insurance solutions to clients worldwide. Armada’s focus is to shield companies and their employees from catastrophes by providing insurance solutions and presenting unique growth strategies.
