About Us
Our company was established in 1991 by the former risk manager at Stolt-Nielsen. All of our professional staff have either been to sea, worked ashore for major ship-owning companies, or worked as professional risk managers for major corporations. Our aim has always been to utilize the background and skills of our staff to take a creative approach toward problem solving. We have never been satisfied with maintaining the "status quo". CSI is considered by many in our industry to be a leader in developing innovative insurance products designed to meet the needs of our clients. A few examples of how we have met the challenges and demands of the ship-owning community are:
“In the complex economic environment of the marine industry, I believe every shipowner deserves the opportunity to examine alternatives. I also believe competition among insurers is healthiest for the client, and it is his welfare that is our concern.”
Integrated P&I / Cargo Program
Back in the early 1990's when the owners were suffering from huge supplementary calls, we introduced our unique Integrated P&I / Cargo program to the market. We first developed and implemented this program while we were at Stolt-Nielsen. Under this program we transfer the owner's risk for cargo liability away from the P&I club and place the risk with a fixed-cost cargo insurance underwriter. In every case, this program achieved substantial advance call savings for the owner resulting in corresponding reduced exposure to supplementary calls.
COFR Coverage
During the days leading up to the implementation of the OPA '90 requirement for COFR's, many of our clients were extremely concerned about the impact of this legislation on their ability to continue to call US ports. The requirement for vessels to have COFRs onboard went into effect in December of 1994. As late as September of 1994 there were no COFR insurance providers available in the market. In response to the needs of our clients, Coastal States Insurance arranged for the first commercial COFR guarantee scheme to be approved for the USCG.
Fixed Cost P&I
Prior to 1996, the fixed-cost P&I market was dominated by smaller underwriters with fairly low limits. That changed when Southern Seas emerged with the first AAA+ (Superior) rated P&I underwriter, Chubb, offering limits of US $500 million. Southern Seas was started by the former president of our firm. Again, we took the lead in bringing a product to the market that owners wanted and needed.