Short notes on the Historical Preview of Marine Insurance

Marine insurance is the oldest form of insurance. Is Rigveda marine insurance was provided in the form of Risk and Safety insurance Historian traced into the period 900 B.C. when the Rhodian merchant trading in the Mediterranean Sea introduced certain maritime customs and practices?

There were problems of maritime financing. This led to “Bottomry” and “Respondentia” loans. Bottomry was a loan raised by the captain of a vessel when money was urgently needed. It was given on the security of vessel. Respondent a was loan on the security of the Cargo. There was a laments of insurance in these transactions.

When goods were thrown into the sea, the loss of goods so scarified was made good by the owner of ship and goods saved. Thus sharing of losses of few by many has given the birth of insurance. This practice spread and is now known as General Average which is part of maritime law.

Marine insurance as practiced today had its crude beginning is the 12^th century in Italy from where it spread to England. In the 17^th century maritime insurance began to be transacted in the coffee house of the Edward Leoyd and so was Lloyd’s of London was born.

The Marine Insurance Act 1906 was passed in the U.K. for first time.

The United Kingdom, the U.S.A., Japan and the Continent of Europe are major international markets.

The years following the end of World War II have seen a period of economic nationalism, particularly stimulated by the political independence attained by many countries previously within the colonial empires, for example, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, East and West Africa, the Arabian Gulf countries.

The Middle East countries and others. In such countries indigenous insurance markets have developed, which in several instances, cater almost exclusively to their domestic market and usually depend on the reinsurance facilities.

U.K., USA, Germany and Japan have developed tremendous capacity of reinsurance. Domestic companies are obliged to cede amount in excess of their prescribed retentions to their national reinsurance company, which in turn, arranges reinsurance in the international market.

The marine insurance market in U.K. its major centre in London Lloyds’s Association and other Institute are developing marine insurance internationally.