USA: McDermott Costa Insurance Offers Services for Shipyards and Marinas

As a California insurance agency that specializes in ocean marine insurance for shipyards, marinas, yacht clubs, and commercial boating vessels/fleets, McDermott Costa Insurance Brokers also educates clients about best practices for reducing risk.

Summer is a particularly busy time for marinas. More people take vacations in the summer and hot weather propels them to the sea. That’s why summer is a great time to educate marina and shipyard owners about the risks associated with third party service providers.

A third party service provider is any vendor that provides services either to the marina or customers that use the marina. Third parties include repair services, vessel cleaning services, yacht brokers, surveyors, etc. In the summer, marina owners can expect to see more third parties on the premises, therefore need to be aware of the risks associated with them.

Those risks include:

• Third party injuries sustained due to the actions of marina staff or customers using the marina.
• Staff or customer injuries sustained due to the actions of the third parties.
• Property damage sustained due to the actions of the third parties or vice versa.

One important way to mitigate risk involved with third parties is to draft an agreement or contract with a third party that clearly identifies the obligations of both parties and sorts out how to transfer risk should a liability arise. Effective agreements require third parties to have workers compensation and liability insurance and to add the marina as an additional insured.

This is a great way for marinas to reduce claims to their ocean marine insurance and solidify relationships with third parties as it actually protects both parties should an incident happen. McDermott Costa Insurance Brokers can help marinas, shipyards, and other marine companies to avoid risks.

[mappress]

Shipbuilding Tribune Staff, June 25, 2012