UAE – Marine Insurance
Protecting Cargo, Vessels, Transit Liabilities & Maritime Operations
Marine risk in the UAE extends far beyond ocean journeys. Cargo moves across sea, road, air, storage yards, and inland corridors — your insurance must cover every stage, not just the voyage.
- Marine Cargo & Transit - covering sea, road, air, and multimodal movements
- Hull & Protection & Indemnity (P&I) - protecting vessels, machinery, and third-party liabilities
- Stock Throughput - seamless cover from supply chain entry to delivery
- Hauliers Liability - protecting carriers responsible for third-party cargo
- War Risk Cover - available on a per-shipment basis for high-risk routes across the region
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Marine Cover Types
Six Specialist Covers - One Expert Broker
Marine insurance is most effective when structured holistically. Each policy below addresses a distinct risk — and gaps arise when transit points or responsibilities are not clearly defined.
Marine Cargo & Transit
Protects goods against physical loss or damage during transit by sea, road, rail, or air - including associated handling and storage periods. Relevant to importers, exporters, traders, and contractors.
Breakbulk & Project Cargo
Elevated risk cover for oversized, heavy-lift, or non-containerised shipments across multiple handling points. Each shipment is assessed individually for route, handling, and storage exposure.
Stock Throughput
Combines transit and static storage under a single policy - providing seamless protection from when goods enter the supply chain until they are sold or delivered. Reduces gaps and simplifies administration.
Marine Hull
Protects vessels against physical loss or damage from marine perils - including collision, grounding, fire, machinery failure, and weather incidents. Applies to commercial vessels, workboats, and offshore craft.
Protection & Indemnity (P&I)
Covers third-party liabilities from vessel operations: crew injury, damage to docks or infrastructure, pollution, and wreck removal. Complements hull cover for commercial operators and vessel owners.
Hauliers Liability
Protects carriers and logistics operators against liability for loss or damage to third-party cargo in their care during inland transit. Critical for road carriers, 3PLs, and multimodal operators in the UAE.
How Policies Work Together
Every Stage of Movement - Protected
Marine insurance is most effective when structured holistically. Depending on your business model, the right programme may involve several covers working together - each addressing a distinct risk at a specific stage.
Gaps arise when transit points or responsibilities are not clearly defined. Proper structuring ensures every stage of movement and operation is covered.
- Marine cargo for goods in transit across all modes
- Stock throughput for integrated logistics and warehousing
- Hull and Protection & Indemnity (P&I) for owned or chartered vessels
- Hauliers liability for inland transport and road carriers
Understanding Marine Risk in the UAE
Marine risk here is shaped by high-value cargo across ports and free zones, multimodal transport, breakbulk and project cargo for energy and infrastructure, dense maritime traffic, and increasing contractual transfer of risk to logistics providers.
Policies Must Reflect Real-World Movement
Losses arise not only at sea, but during loading, unloading, inland transit, storage, and handling. Insurance coverage must be structured to reflect how goods and vessels actually move - not just how they are described contractually.
Why Specialist Broking Matters
Marine losses often involve technical surveys, expert assessments, and contractual interpretation. Policies must be designed to respond in real-world scenarios - our role is to ensure they work when losses occur.
War Risk Cover in the UAE
Current Alert
What Businesses Need to Know Now
The regional security situation has fundamentally changed the war risk insurance landscape for cargo moving through the Middle East. Many insurers have cancelled or restricted war cover under standard open cover policies. Cover is still available - but it requires specialist broking, per-shipment declaration, and the ability to move quickly.
The Current Situation
Heightened tensions across the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Strait of Hormuz, and Arabian Gulf have prompted insurers to issue war risk notices and revise rates on a 48-hour basis. The situation changes daily - and so does the premium.
War risk rates for affected regions are no longer fixed. They are reviewed every 48 hours based on ground conditions, not political statements. Insurers are not offering blanket war cover for these regions under open cover policies - coverage is available only on a per-declaration basis.
Road shipments transiting affected countries are also subject to war on land cover on a case-by-case basis. Most insurers in the market are not yet offering blanket war on land cover.
Why This Matters for Your Cargo
Standard marine cargo policies exclude war risks as a matter of course. If your shipment is moving through any affected waterway or overland route and you have not secured war risk cover on a per-shipment basis, your cargo is exposed — regardless of what your open cover policy states.
The routing of your shipment matters. A consignment with a bill of lading showing one port may in practice be dropped at a different port due to carrier diversions or end-of-voyage declarations. If you have not notified your insurer, your claim can be prejudiced - even under an otherwise valid policy.
War risk premiums are elevated and are not coming down until conditions on the ground improve. Every party in the supply chain must factor this into their shipment planning and cost models.
How We Can Help
War risk cover in the current environment requires specialist broking, fast turnaround, and market relationships. We work with underwriters who are actively quoting war risk on a per-shipment basis - providing cover where others are not. Our process is built to move at the speed the situation demands.
What we need from you to obtain war risk cover:
Shipper and consignee details
Description and value of cargo
Port of loading and port of discharge
Confirmation of high-risk waterway transit
Planned loading date (1–2 days prior to movement)
Important: Declarations must be made before loading. Once your cargo is in movement without confirmed cover, you are exposed. Do not assume your existing open cover extends to war risks in the current environment – contact us to confirm your position before your next shipment moves.
Who Needs Marine Insurance?
Is This Right for Your Business?
Even experienced operators face exposure when Incoterms, contractual terms, or handling methods shift risk unexpectedly.
Importers & Exporters
Any party with an insurable interest in goods in transit — including associated handling and storage periods.
Trading Companies & Distributors
Businesses moving goods across UAE ports, free zones, and inland logistics hubs with high inventory turnover.
Oil, Gas & EPC Contractors
Project owners and EPC contractors handling breakbulk, heavy-lift, and project cargo across complex routes.
Logistics Providers & Hauliers
Carriers, 3PLs, freight forwarders, and multimodal operators with liability for third-party cargo.
Vessel Owners & Charterers
Commercial vessel operators, offshore support craft, and those with crew or contractual liability exposure.
Common Questions
Is marine insurance only for ocean shipments?
No. Marine insurance extends to inland transit, storage, handling, and multimodal movements — covering sea, road, rail, and air legs as well as associated loading, unloading, and storage periods.
Who is responsible for insuring cargo — buyer or seller?
This depends on the Incoterms and contractual arrangements in place. Insurance should always reflect where risk actually transfers — and this is not always clear from the contract alone.
Is stock throughput suitable for all businesses?
Stock throughput is best suited to businesses with continuous movement of goods through warehouses and distribution points — combining transit and storage cover under one policy to reduce gaps and simplify administration.
Do I need both hull and P&I insurance?
Hull covers physical damage to the vessel itself. P&I covers third-party liabilities — crew injury, damage to docks, pollution, and wreck removal. They complement each other and most commercial vessel operators require both.
Does my existing open cover include war risks?
Not in the current environment. Most insurers have issued notices cancelling or restricting war cover under open cover policies for shipments transiting affected waterways. Cover is still available, but it must be arranged separately on a per-shipment, per-declaration basis. Do not assume your open cover extends to war risks without confirmation from your broker.
Why are war risk rates so high, and can they come down?
War risk rates reflect actual exposure in the region and are reviewed by underwriters on a 48-hour basis. They are not based on political statements but on conditions on the ground. If tensions ease, rates are likely to reduce. Businesses must factor current war risk premiums into their shipment costs — this is not a cost that can be avoided for high-risk routes.
How far in advance must I declare a shipment for war risk?
A minimum of one to two days before loading is required. Declarations made on the day of movement cannot be guaranteed. Given the high volume of war risk enquiries in the market, early declaration allows us to bind rates and confirm cover before your cargo is at risk.
Is war on land cover available for road shipments?
War on land cover for road shipments is available on a case-by-case basis. Most insurers are not offering blanket war on land cover at present. Where it can be arranged, it is assessed individually based on route, cargo value, and current ground conditions. Contact us with your shipment details for a quotation.
Get a Quote on Marine Insurance
Whether you move cargo, operate vessels, or manage logistics across the UAE and Middle East — our specialists will assess your exposure and structure the right cover for your operations.
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