Shadow-Fleet Oil Tanker Insurer Gets Shut Down by Marshall Islands
A company that offers insurance to the burgeoning shadow fleet of oil tankers — including one that ran aground off the coast of Indonesia — was shut down by the Marshall Islands, the firm’s only published address.
The Continental Steamship Owners Mutual Protecting & Indemnity Association Ltd. was “forcibly dissolved” by the Pacific island nation, according to International Registries Inc. Continental offered insurance and took on risk, violating rules governing non-resident entities, a spokesperson for the Virginia-based registry group said.
Continental is the insurer of a crude tanker called the Liberty that has been aground off the coast of Indonesia for over a week with about 1 million barrels of Venezuelan oil on board, according to an International Maritime Organization database. The IMO itself warned last week of the “grave concern” posed by such ships. The cargo is being removed, Indonesia said.
The Liberty’s grounding — along with its unclear insurance — provides a stark illustration of the environmental risks posed by the shadow fleet and uncertainties about who would pay out if something went wrong. Several insurance industry officials told Bloomberg earlier this month that they were unable to find information about Continental P&I beyond what is on its website.
Its dissolution in the Marshall Islands means there is now no known address for Continental, which says it has reinsurance at Lloyd’s of London. Non-resident firms can’t offer insurance or take risk.
Lloyd’s of London declined to comment. Continental didn’t respond to calls. A person answering the phone in September asked for questions to be sent by email. Four emails since then have gone unanswered.
IHS Maritime, which maintains the IMO’s database, said it last received information that Continental covered the Liberty back in May and has had no update since. Such policies normally run for a year.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has caused a huge expansion in the number of tankers like the Liberty. Continental’s website shows it covers tankers with combined transportation capacity of about 10 million barrels of oil, many of them having sailed to Russia in the past year.
Industry databases don’t provide a beneficial owner for the Liberty, but a firm called Skyward Management Corp., with an address in Kazakhstan, is listed as its technical manager. A call to a phone number for Skyward said the number was locked. An email to the firm wasn’t immediately returned.
International Registries is affiliated with Marshall Islands Maritime and Corporate Registries.
Photograph: An oil tanker is silhouetted against the hazy sky. Photo credit: Marcelo del Pozo/Bloomberg
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