The Maritime Risk Podcast

Episode 3 - The Escalating Crisis of Migration at Sea – what can we learn from the case of the Maersk Etienne?

According to the UN Refugee Agency, some 40,000 people have attempted to cross from North Africa to Europe in 2020 alone, the size of this humanitarian crisis is further compounded when we learn that 400 of these migrants are reported to have lost their lives when making this dangerous journey.   

The legal complexities of migrant rescue involves the application of international conventions and multi-jurisdictional and agency issues, all of which does nothing to alleviate the ship master’s moral and legal obligation to respond to the plight of migrants when in distress at sea.

It’s in the DNA of those who work at sea, to save life at sea and in so doing, they often expose themselves, their vessels and their employers to safety, legal, security and commercial issues that can take time and money to resolve.

In this podcast we will look at the legal and operational complexities of seaborne migrant rescue and we will point our listeners in the right direction to access freely available information, advice and support when caught in the crosshairs of the perhaps inevitable political standoff which may ensue when seeking a safe place to disembark those that you have saved at sea.

Today Shoreline has the pleasure of speaking to two leading industry experts on this issue, namely;

David Hammond – David is the CEO and founder of the Human Rights at Sea Organisation, HRAS is a not for profit, advocacy charity, that strives to deliver social change through legal and policy development to ensure human rights apply equally to those at sea as they do to those on land, and;

Dr. Victoria Mitchell – Victoria is part of Control Risks’ dedicated maritime security team, providing global analytical coverage of maritime security issues. Victoria is an expert in the law of the sea and holds a PhD that addresses this and maritime security cooperation.

EPISODE 2 – The Digitalisation of the Shipping Industry

The volume of data available in the world is growing exponentially; according to recent predictions by International Data Corporation, the amount of data created worldwide in 2025 will be ten times what it was in 2017. 

Increased digitalisation of the shipping industry is an inevitability. The consumption of data analytics to gain deeper maritime domain awareness is on the increase. Indeed Shoreline is a consumer of data analytics derived from AIS positional data. They work with leading data analytics firm Windward, to establish accurate reporting on Shoreline’s insured fleet for every entry, exit and duration of stay within the United States Exclusive Economic Zone.

Windward’s artificial intelligence-driven platform processes millions of data points to establish accurate vessel tracking in pre-defined areas or ‘polygons’. Shoreline uses data analytics to re-engineer their internal administrative procedures to create significant efficiencies for the business and their client base.

In this podcast Nick Maddalena, a consultant for Shoreline, talks to Ron Crean VP of Commercial at Windward about digitalisation and the shipping industry and whether Covid-19 has accelerated our adoption of all things digital.

Nick Maddalena is an independent consultant working with both insurers and insurtechs to create strategies for digitalisation and distribution respectively. He has spent the majority of his 30 year career working within corporate and private insurance companies entering into new product environments and opening distribution channels in a variety of geographic areas. Immediately prior to founding Quilla Consultancy, Nick was Head of Insurance for a leading data analytics firm.

Ron Crean is VP of Commercial at Windward. Ron qualified as a Chartered Shipbroker and has experience developing business in 30+ countries and leading global teams mainly in maritime and energy related businesses including shipowners, ports and particularly maritime technology/information businesses.

Episode 1 - Escalation of US and Iranian tensions and its impact on security in the Gulf

On the 4th of July, 2019, the Iranian tanker Grace One was detained by UK forces in Gibraltar on suspicion of EU sanction violations and on the 19th of July a British flag tanker, the Stena Impero was detained by Iran's Islamic revolutionary guard Corps. Track forward to August 2020, and we find Iranian forces once again, boarding another vessel this time a Liberian flag tanker, the MV Wila.  Are these events connected and should shipowners be concerned with the apparent escalation of hostilities in the Persian Gulf. We'll aim to answer these questions with Cormac McGarry senior analyst at Control Risks and Jonathan Wood lead analyst for North America and deputy global research director for Control risks.