In mid-May the organisers of the Marine Forum invited participants from the South African and international marine insurance markets to the 33rd Marine Forum which took place in Kievits Kroon, Pretoria, South Africa.

The programme featured a wide range of presentations, over a day and a half, and including different perspectives of hull and cargo underwriters when dealing with fire related claims; an introduction to the emergency response capacities of Lloyd’s Agencies after hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria struck the Caribbean; wide-ranging insights into the challenges of transiting cargo across Africa; and an update from IUMI.

Against the backdrop of this rather serious conference programme, the organisers set the scene of the overall event under the motto of “Star Wars”. Several underwriters turned into Jedi knights and Princess Leia at the gala dinner. The Marine Forum was an excellent warm-up, both in terms of the quality of the speakers as well as the social programme, for what promises to be a startling IUMI 2018 conference in Cape Town this September!