Marine mutual insurers Standard Club, Strike Club to merge

Marine mutual insurers The Strike Club and The Standard Club are combining their businesses in a move intended to improve the synergies, efficiencies and cost savings in governance, management, underwriting and reinsurance for both the organisations.

The Strike Club is a marine mutual insurance group fully owned by its members. It offers mutual delay cover for the daily operating costs of ships held up by strikes, port closures, collisions, breakdowns and other unexpected delays.

The Standard Club is a mutual insurance association and a member of the International Group of P&I Clubs. It is managed by the Charles Taylor group.

Under the proposed plan, The Strike Club will continue as a member-controlled mutual delay insurer, operating as a class of The Standard Club. It will be supervised by the current Strike Club board, which will become a Strike committee of The Standard Club.

The transaction will enable The Standard Club members access to marine delay insurance while diversifying the club's underwriting portfolio and risk profile, and further increasing the club’s free reserves. The Strike Club members will benefit from being part of a larger mutual insurer with over $460 million free reserves.

“Marine delay insurance provides valuable protection to ship owners and operators protecting them from delays outside their control. At a time when the shipping market is facing difficult market conditions and financial pressures, our cover can make all the difference between profit and loss on voyages for operators," said Alain Le Guillard, president and chairman of The Strike Club.

“Joining The Standard Club is an excellent move for the club," Le Guillard added. "It will provide our members with long-term financial stability and S&P A-rated cover, while preserving the independence of operation, identity and other valuable mutual characteristics of The Strike Club.”

Cesare D’Amico, chairman of The Standard Club, commented: “This transaction is a win-win for members of both clubs. It increases our membership and enables us to offer valuable additional protection to members of The Standard Club. It extends our strategy of offering a wide range of insurance covers to our members and diversifying our sources of revenue. The Standard Club will also benefit from increased reserves from The Strike Club. I will look forward to welcoming the members of The Strike Club to The Standard Club.”

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