As at February 20th 2009, the Association
has 120 Members with 885 entered ships totaling 17.88 million GT. The total
entered tonnage increased by 1.37 million GT, representing an increase of 8.3%
in comparison with the previous policy year.
The advanced premiums increased by US$ 7.68 million,
representing an increase of 24.01%.
The following graph shows the development of entered
tonnage in recent policy years.
During the 2008 policy year, the Association continued to make ?progress in underwriting, achieving significant growth in entered tonnage. In the 2008 policy year, 138 ships totaling 3.91 million GT were newly entered in the Association. Although the number of newly entered ships decreased by 20.69%, the newly entered tonnage increased by 9.21%, which is the largest increase in the history of the Association. The significant increase is attributed to the following reasons:
（１）The new-buildings ordered at the height of the shipping market were delivered to shipowners, and subsequently entered with the Association.
（２）The shipping market was running in high gear in the first three quarters of 2008. Many shipowners bought in second-hand ships.
（３）Ships were transferred from other Associations due to competitive advantages.
192 ships, accounting for 2.54 million GT,
withdrew from the Association in the same policy year. Comparing this with the
previous policy year, this represents an increase of 51.18% and 66.01% in the
number and tonnage of withdrawal.
The main reasons for withdrawal were:
(1) The financial crisis hit the shipping market
hard. Facing difficulties in operation, some members sold their vessels.
(2) Ships were scrapped.
In the 2008 policy year, the Association
achieved excellent results in the collection of calls. The collection rate for
advanced calls and premiums reached 99.36%.
Substantial progress was made by the Managers in
collecting calls and premiums in the 2008 policy year. All members of the Board
paid their premiums on time, which set a good example to the other Members.
To protect the interests of all members of the
Association and tighten the control on quality of underwriting
tonnage, the Association withdrew cover to those companies with poor credit and
unsatisfactory management.
3.International Co-insurance
In the 2008 policy year, members of the International Group of P&I Clubs set their general increases between 7.5% to 20%, an average at 15.77%. The Association was under pressure to accept a substantially higher increase in the co-insurance premium due to the high loss ratios and an increase in the number of major claims in the Clubs with which the Association has had co-insurance programmes, especially under the influence of the oil pollution incident of M.V. Hebei Spirit. Nevertheless, the Association was able to conclude a renewal arrangement with each Club for an average increase of 28.6% per GT comparing to that of policy year 2007.