UAE Tightens Insurance Requirements for Vessels Registered under its Flag
The UAE is tightening insurance requirements for vessels registered under its flag to ensure that ships have top-tier cover in the event of an oil spill.
Ships typically have protection and indemnity insurance and separate hull and machinery policies.
The UAE's Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure requires P&I insurers outside of the International Group to provide evidence of membership in a professional agency or regulatory body and details of the five largest settled claims or claims over $10 million.
The advisory also requires evidence of blue cards, which cover pollution damage.
The UAE-flagged fleet includes dozens of oil tankers and over 200 offshore vessels used in oil-related trading.
Hundreds of "ghost" tankers, which are not fully regulated, have joined an opaque parallel shipping trade, carrying oil from countries hit by Western sanctions and restrictions.
The number of incidents involving these ships reached the highest in years last year, including groundings, collisions, and near misses.
Ports in China's Shandong province are also demanding more detailed information about oil tankers that are more than 15 years old that call at their terminals.