Paratus Maritime Insurance Limited, which was first to market with the launch of its bunker fuel price insurance product last year, has announced the first individual placements, in partnership with its distribution partners Gibson Shipbrokers and Price Forbes & Partners.
Paratus, which is licensed and regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, says its parametric fuel price insurance products offer a risk management solution for industrial companies that consume large amounts of fuel. It highlights that the newly announced placements have delivered ‘cost effective and easy to use protection to shipping companies, some of whom were previously unable to access conventional hedging products from investment banks’.
In an interview with Bunkerspot earlier this year, Gus Majed, Group CEO and Founder of the Paratus Group of Companies, said that the catalyst for the development of a bunker price insurance product had the realisation that for many shipowners, risk mitigation in the form of traditional hedging tools was not a panacea for their price exposure. Bunker price uncertainty and volatility surrounding the introduction of the IMO 0.50% sulphur cap in January last year and the subsequent impact of the pandemic on global energy demand and oil prices had confirmed this viewpoint.
In a statement issued today, Majed said: ‘Paratus is committed to providing innovative insurance solutions to protect our clients’ balance sheets from energy price risks.
‘With the binding of the world’s first parametric fuel price insurance policies, we are proud to support our clients as they transition to cleaner energy, and as demand for fuel and freight rapidly rebounds.'
In its statement, Paratus also flagged up it that it ‘intends to soon bind its first freight price policies’. As previously reported, in January this year Paratus received approval from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) for its parametric freight rate policy, giving owners and charterers the alternative of ‘double protection’ against freight rate rises and marine fuel price hikes.
