Circular 03/26: Update from the Board

The UK Club Directors recently met in Edinburgh.

The Directors participated in a Cyber Risk workshop presented by independent expert Rachel Higham - Rachel has a wealth of experience as CIO / CTO of companies such as WPP, BT and latterly M&S. She is uniquely positioned to comment on the current cyber landscape having been responsible for the recovery of all IT systems at M&S following their well-publicised cyber attack last year. Members were interested to understand her perspective on the key measures that businesses can take, not only to increase their protections against attack, but also to prepare for an optimal response to a successful cyber attack to ensure minimum disruption and rapid restoration of operations. The session resulted in some excellent recommendations, insights and take aways both for Members and for the Club and we look forward to sharing the feedback with our wider membership in the coming weeks.

The Members’ Committee met for a productive meeting. Some of the output from that meeting is summarised below:

Evolving Risk

The Directors were interested to discuss the steps that the Club, and the wider International Group, is taking to better understand and contain losses arising from the carriage of nurdles / plastic pellets, working with industry bodies and the wider container industry.

Merger with the TT Club

The Club CEO and Chairman gave a detailed update on the progress of ongoing merger with the TT Club. Progress has been very good to date with key workstreams progressing in line with the overall project plan. Both Clubs remain on track for completion of the merger on the target date of 20^th February 2027.

Financial performance

The Club is also on track for full year technical results in line with its original financial forecast. Prior years are developing within expectation. Following an active period for pool claims during the early part of the current year, losses remain within expected ranges for the year to date. It is normal to see a spike in pool claims towards the end of the financial year, but absent any unexpectedly severe development, the Club expects the financial performance to be within forecast.  The Members’ Committee was also briefed on the expected full year investment returns which, despite a conservative asset mix, are substantially ahead of both the original and mid-year reforecast following strong performance in investment markets. Overall a meaningful increase in the Club's free reserves is anticipated this year.

Reinsurance

A review of both the International Group and Club’s own reinsurance programmes. Members were happy to see the increased cover bought by the International Group within a stable pricing framework. There was some discussion of the changing allocation of costs between vessel categories due to recent loss patterns, with container ships contributing the bulk of significant pool and reinsurance losses during the past 5 years.

Claims

Directors were given a synopsis of recent significant claims impacting the Club as well as some of the more high profile pool claims in recent years. Directors were pleased to note that there was some optimism over the future direction of the X-PRESS PEARL matter.

Safety and Risk Management

The Club’s Safety & Risk Management director reminded Directors of the work the Club is doing to raise awareness of Cyber exposures onboard. Working with cyber experts CyberOwl, the Club has developed advice and materials for use onboard to improve cyber security. These materials can be found on the Club’s website or using the following link https://www.ukpandi.com/manage-risks/loss-prevention/cyber-risk-management/.

Resolutions

The Board passed three standard resolutions in respect of Excess War Risks P&I cover, Supplementary Bio-Chem cover and the $1bn P&I oil pollution limit; The resolutions are unchanged year on year except for the Excess War P&I buy back in respect of the Russia, Ukraine and Belarus geographical exclusion, which has been increased to $125m from $100m in 2025/6. The three resolutions are set out in detail in Circular 02/26. 

2026 Rules

Following the Board’s agreement to the resolutions, the Club Rules for 2026/7 have been finalised and can be found online.