MARINE INSURANCE case study

Cyber attack resulting in container loss

Marta Vicente

Claims Handler

timing

4 months

type of recovery

amicable

loss ratio

50%

loss amount

16.000 EUR

countries involved

UK, Spain

The products and clients involved

Our client is an insurance company who insured the cargo which was carried into the containers. The cargo was transported from Shanghai to Barcelona.

The incident

In June of 2017, a shipping company suffered one of the most serious cyber-attacks in the marine world in which they lost control of their systems. As a consequence of this cyber – attack, many vessels or containers couldn’t be located. In addition, different orders couldn’t be processed. In our case, the goods insured for our principals were lost in two different containers.

The challenges we faced

Usually, the cyber – attack is considered in the insurance policy as a force majeure. In other words, there isn’t a possibility to obtain a recovery because the carrier doesn’t have liability for the damage or loss.

However, the risks in the marine world are changing every day along with the world. It is very difficult not to assume that there is an important risk of suffering a cyber-attack, taking into account the development of new technologies. On this basis, we consider that companies should invest in security systems to protect from these new threats. We were facing two situations:

  1. The event is not unpredictable.
  2. The event is not irresistible We got an effective recovery from the shipping company.

Conclusions

It is very important to have an open mind when dealing with these types of challenges in order to prevent the exclusion of the carrier established in relation to the main transport conventions.

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