History and Importance of Marine Insurance Incidents

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Business Law Assignment

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Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................................. 2
History and Importance of Marine Insurance Incidents...........................................................3
Impact on Marine Insurance on Business, Country, and Economy..........................................4
Environmental issue relating to Marine...................................................................................5
International relations, government role and laws application in Australia.............................6
Recent law changes and role of regulatory authority in Australia...........................................7
Conclusion................................................................................................................................8
References................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Insurance is referred to an arrangement which is represented by a policy in which an
individual or entity receives financial protection or reimbursement against any loss which
they suffer from the insurance company. Marine insurance is one of the older forms of
insurance which provides protection against loss by damage or destruction of cargo,
merchandise, and freight (Hodges, 2013). This paper will evaluate the history and
importance of marine insurance incidents and their effects on the business, economy, and
country. Various environmental issues relating to marine will be analysed in this paper along
with its cost and loss. The role of the government in marine insurance will be evaluated
along with international relations between different countries. The laws applicable in
Australia regarding marine insurance will be compared with global laws and case laws will
be referred in this paper as well. Recent law changes in the field of marine insurance and
the role of regulatory authority in Australia in relation to marine insurance will be analysed
in this report as well.

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History and Importance of Marine Insurance Incidents
Insurance connects with the risk of transportation of goods and marine insurance – hull and
cargo especially – is one of the oldest insurance. It is origins in the Greek and Roman marine
loan and the first formal marine insurance policy was created around 1350 (Leonard, 2016).
It was the oldest risk hedging which was used by parties in order to mitigate risk during
medieval times. In 1347, the very first actual insurance contract was signed called ‘the Santa
Clara’ in Genoa. It is believed that marine insurance was originated in England due to
frequent movement and transportation of goods through ships. During these times, the
commerce and trade through seas were popular which leads to many accidents in which
organisations suffer significant loss due to damage and loss of their goods. These incidents
were important for the history of marine insurance since they enforced insurance
companies to improve their policies to reach the demand of a wider number (Hodges,
2013). Therefore, the history of marine insurance is linked with the popularity of commerce
and trade practices through ships. A good incident is when London become a hub for
commerce and trade through seas based on which the concept of marine insurance become
popular in the country. With the growing demand and popularity of marine insurance,
provisions regarding governance of these policies were started to introduce in the English
legal system. In 1906, the English Marine Insurance Act was passed and this incident
resulted in codifying that law (Soyer, 2012). The number of marine insurance companies
was starting to grow; therefore, the importance of their governance started to grow as well.
In the case of Australia, the concept of the marine insurance was brought by British.
Trading through voyages involve many risks which are higher than local trade, terrestrial or
maritime. Therefore, it is important for organisations to get marine insurance because the
value of the goods which is transported through ships is considerably high. The goods
transported through ships are exposed to damage or loss from numerous perils which are
related to this form of transportation (Hodges, 2012). These damages incidents highlighted
the importance of marine insurance based on which they become a key part of maritime
transportation. A contract with the insurance agencies assists in protecting corporations
from significant loss caused due to damage or loss of goods during transportation. In
Consort Shipping Line Ltd v FAI Insurance (Fiji) Ltd [1999] FJCA 10 case, the court provided