View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2012/05/23/248679.htm
Frank Crystal & Co., an independent insurance brokerage firm, has formed an exclusive cooperation with P.L. Ferrari & Co. to launch a new U.S.-based marine insurance practice. A European-based insurance broker specializing in marine liability for ship owners, P.L. Ferrari will work with Frank Crystal to offer protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance to American-based ship owners through bespoke transactional, technical and advisory support.
“Liability legislation around the world is heating up against ship owners, and the United States is no exception,” said Jamie Crystal, executive vice president of Frank Crystal & Co. and acting head of the new Marine Insurance practice. “Through our cooperation with P.L. Ferrari and the new Marine Insurance Practice, U.S. based ship owners will now have access to experts in P&I insurance in the world. Clients will have a customized program design aligned with the specialist advice for maritime liabilities.”
The new practice will be run by Paul Barnes who brings more than 25 years of experience building tailored products to help multinational ship owners manage complex global risks. Previous to his new role as managing director at Frank Crystal & Co., he was senior vice president and underwriter at the Shipowners Claims Bureau (managers of the American P&I Club) where he underwrote internationally trading ship owners in the U.S. and across the globe including Canada, Mexico, Greece, Turkey and Southeast Asia.
“Ship owners and charterers are facing a world of ever increasing regulation and governmental oversight,” stated Barnes. “Consequently, the liability regimes in which those owners and charterers find themselves operating mean an incident could threaten not only the ship, but the entire fabric of the company. It is now more critical than ever that owners and charterers receive specialist P&I advice.”
P.L. Ferrari handles all types of maritime disputes and P&I claims from charter parties, ship building and MOA contracts to the most technical cargo claims, oil pollution incidents, collisions, groundings, G.A., personal injury cases or stowaway problems. Offerings now exclusively available to the Frank Crystal Marine Practice include:
Prior to his roleat the Shipowners Claims Bureau, Barnes was a vice president at Charles Taylor P&I Management (managers of the Standard P&I Club) in New York for more than ten years, where he providing casualty response for all ship owner members of the club trading in and to the US and also managed P&I claims on a worldwide basis for all Americas based members. Previously he held several senior level positions over the span of twelve years at Richard Hogg International/Richard Hogg Lindley, including executive vice president, within multiple regions in the U.S. and the U.K. Barnes is a non-lawyer member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States and the Canadian Maritime Law Association, and a resident associate member of the Association of Average Adjusters of the United States and Canada.
The Marine Insurance Practice will operate within Frank Crystal & Co.’s Corporate Insurance Services Group, led by Ed Kiessling, executive vice president.