Insurers have become increasingly concerned about losses from superyachts towing tenders, and have been forced to respond by imposing tighter restrictions. In some cases, insurers now exclude higher risk activities like towing overnight or in stronger winds altogether.
These restrictions cause problems for captains operationally, in particular their preference to relocate the yacht by night in order to maximise guest enjoyment.
Clearly the old best practice for towing tenders is not adequate to prevent loss and damage. Therefore, there is an insurance clause for an
“Advanced Tow Protection System”
to benefit yacht owners -when fitted with our system.
Over 100,000 yacht owners worldwide put their trust in Pantaenius. The family-owned company has been a leading provider of yacht insurance for over 50 years.
Their comprehensive, specialist solutions for superyachts include hull insurance, liability insurance / P&I, charter cancellation, and crew welfare, as well as pre-delivery and builder’s risk insurance for new builds and major refits. The Pantaenius Superyacht Clauses provide increased coverage and additional benefits while maintaining the famous clarity and certainty of Pantaenius products.
Their international service network and in-house claims department sets them apart from their competitors and whether you own, manage or plan to purchase a vessel, Pantaenius will be happy to provide you with an individual risk assessment and bespoke insurance packages.
Please see the video with Mike Wimbridge on the news page
At Pantaenius, the Yacht owner benefits from having a towing system fitted, as we offer a lower deductible when towing in excess of 90 nautical miles if a towing system is fitted as well as excluding towing at night totally, if no system in place.
For more information please contact:
Michelle Van der Merwe
Superyacht Account Manager
Tel. +377 97 70 12 02
Mobile: +377 6 80 86 90 99
Why is towing higher risk by night?
Marine risk experts identify reduced crew awareness as the issue: fewer crew are on deck, crew require to spend more attention on the safe navigation of the yacht, and remote observations are of increasingly limited value in reduced visibility.
They propose a system to provide the crew with complete safety information inside and outside the tender direct to the bridge, and which will raise attention immediately to potential issues even when crew are busy with other activities day and night.
A collaboration between insurers, captains, marine risk experts and TSM-Systems found that:
- existing towing best practice of a) installing a tracker on the tender b) making periodic observations of the tender are inadequate for risk reduction
- insurance warranties which require an operational AIS on the tender actually cause captains to infringe SOLAS regulations
- captains would welcome an Advanced Tow Protection product designed specifically to help them reduce the risks they experience.
In addition, current requirements for captains to provide Tender Tow Plans can be unclear, causing uncertainty for captains to prepare, and difficulties for insurers to assess.
Use of AIS on tenders under tow
The benefits of Advanced Tow Protection
“It’s like the difference between airbags and ABS on your car, where airbags protect you after the crash, but ABS stops you having the crash in the first place – tow protection tracks a tender after it’s been lost, but advanced tow protection helps you prevent losing it at all.”
Standardised Tender
Tow Plans
In this video, Paul Hailwood, risk assessor, introduces Standardised Tender Tow Plans.