TT Club, the leading mutual insurer in the international freight and logistics arena has had its financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) re-affirmed once again by the US rating agency, A. M. Best. TT's issuer credit rating was also maintained at 'a -' by the agency, which at the same time determined that the outlook for both ratings remains 'stable'.
The massive Federal financial services industry regulatory reform legislation passed by Congress and signed by President Obama in July 2010 includes legislation which directly and positively impacts the placing of business with nonadmitted insurers such as TT Club.
In the wake of seismic and climatic activity around the globe in the early part of 2011, many have been keenly observing the work of forecasters for the 2011 North Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from 1 June to 30 November.
Three industry bodies have produced joint research and published safety specifications for container quay cranes. Experts, working from TT Club insurance claims records and with combined operational experience, recommend minimum standard safety features to promote safety.
June 7, 2011 - In a joint initiative to improve safety at the world's ports, the Port Equipment Manufacturers Association (PEMA), the TT Club and ICHCA International are to announce recommendations for minimum requirements for the operation of quay container cranes. Details of the recommendations will be provided at a workshop at TOC Europe 2011 on Thursday June 9.
New legislation: The UK's new Bribery Act is tough on economic crime and it will impact any company with operations in the UK regardless of its country of domicile. In this article we consider these implications.
It is important for carriers, forwarders and other intermediaries to understand the implications of the European Commission's recent review of its Directive on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Right when it comes to border procedures.
A recent accident in which an empty freight container came away from a ship's crane and came down 'from a great height' - fortunately without causing any injury - has re-ignited the whole issue of ships' cranes.
Reefer containers are regularly found with a white powder on aluminium components. For many years there has been a debate: Is this caused by cleaning techniques and materials, or by the use of low quality alloys?
It can be difficult to have relevant perspective when developments inevitably take time to come to fruition, but the last six months has been quite remarkable in the maturing of safety awareness in the unit load industry. This is most welcome, since the Club has regularly, over the last decade and more, raised concerns from its claims experience relating to the correct stowage and securing within 'cargo transport units' (CTU), and declaration of weight and contents.
There is a separate initiative underway in the ILO to update the 'IMO/ILO/UN ECE Guidelines for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTUs)' which were last reviewed in 1997. This further enhances safety and will assist in the process of ensuring that cargo is properly loaded and secured within CTUs.
