Ships are big things. Giant, slow-moving, difficult to stop once they have momentum and prone to all kinds of forces that wind and wave can throw at them. And no matter how technology advances (GPS for example), ships can be subject to, and the cause of, all kinds of problems – piracy, pollution, dock damage, fire, cargo damage, crew accidents among them – and all those problems have to be insured and regulated.
The International Group of P&I Clubs is the trade body that works with the insurers of all these risks to ensure that, no matter what the problem (an oil spill in the arctic for example), the problems are dealt with and trade continues. The P&I clubs themselves (P&I is protection and indemnity, and the organisations are called ‘clubs’ because they are mutuals, working on behalf of their members, like old-fashioned building societies) insure over 90% of the world’s shipping, and work ceaselessly to try to prevent accidents and hence reduce claims.
We were introduced to the International Group by our friends at Charles Taylor and Co, who manage one of the most successful of the world’s P&I clubs, the Standard Club (www.standard-club.com). Our project was to redesign the International Group logo and then to design and implement a new web site for this very influential trade body, which includes links to all the members, a self-administered news service and even a page with links to the European Union portal.
See for yourself at www.igpandi.org