Continuing attacks are highlighting the need to clarify ambiguity in club cover: currently, P&I clubs do not exclude liabilities arising from piracy, but the loosely defined exclusion of ‘weapons of war’ could return piracy liabilities to the primary hull war risks underwriters.

Stephen Hawke, executive director at Aon, said that piracy attacks have focused ship owners’ attention on the need for certainty of cover with the right insurer. Currently, the P&I war exclusion is open to interpretation, given that pirates invariably employ weaponry. This is giving cause for concern and the insurance industry needs to resolve this lack of clarity. With P&I clubs’ expertise in handling liability claims, it would be a positive solution – provided the cost implications are neutral – to shift primary P&I war risks cover from hull insurers to the P&I clubs.