As the sun came out and delegates made their way down to the conference room, slightly more blurry-eyed than the day before, day two of our conference began. Our concurrent workshops went head-to-head to entice delegates to attend their sessions. In the red corner was the Inland Hull, Fishing & Yacht (IFY) committee workshop, whilst in the blue corner the Offshore Energy committee was poised like a coiled spring.

IFY chair Michael Csorba continued the “disruptive” theme and encouraged delegates to continue to offer the best services in these challenging times. Hurricanes Harvey and Irma had impacted heavily on this sector and they were the subject of much debate.

Next door at Offshore Energy, excitement mounted as James McDonald announced the result of last year’s competition to predict what the Brent crude oil price would be on the first day of this year’s conference. Having waited a whole year, and with the audience on the edge of its collective seat, David Lawrence from Lloyd’s was called to the stage to collect a bottle of designer saki – he had given the correct number of $55.48. What a clever chap!

Helle Hammer, IUMI’s Political Forum chair, kept us on our toes during the committee’s first ever panel discussion on regulation. Interestingly a common issue across various sessions today was that there needs to be better cooperation and communication between the government and stakeholders.

The afternoon came around with a surprise, Mark Edmondson opened the hull workshop in fluent Japanese which earned him a round of applause from those who understood him. Whilst in the room next door, the Legal & Liability workshop talked disruption again.

As day two draws to a close and underwriters and insurers head off to various events, we wait with interest to see what the final day will bring.  

Goodnight Tokyo!