As any historian will tell you, the Tyne, Wear and Tees were three of the world's leading shipbuilding rivers. It's estimated that, at that turn of the 20th century, over half of the world's ships were built in the North East. Sadly, that industry has declined dramatically.
However, maritime is still a vitally important part of the North East economy.
Situated on the Newcastle quayside, just along from the Millennium Bridge, is an imposing modern building. This is the home of North P & I Club…the North of England Protecting and Indemnity Association. They have regional offices in Asia, Europe and North America. They’ve been a leading global marine insurer for over 160 years.
You probably haven’t heard of them as their main client base and the ship-owners they insure are located outside of the region, but these figures will make you sit up and take notice.
They insure, in some shape or form, one in eight of the world’s shipping fleet. In terms of big ships like tankers, container and bulk carriers, they have over 5,000 on their books. Smaller vessels like fishing boats or specialist vessels will total in excess of 10,000. They also play a major role in the International Group of P&I Clubs which is an association of underwriting clubs insuring around 90% of the world’s ocean-going tonnage.
Oh, and talking of tonnage, it’s worth remembering that 95 per cent of the world’s trade goes via sea.
“And that’s why when something goes wrong, it can affect a country’s economy”, explains North’s Chief Executive, Paul Jennings. “We saw that when the Ever Given was stuck in the Suez Canal, and we’ve seen it as a consequence of COVID. As COVID started to see countries locking down, people began buying more consumer goods which led to an increase in container traffic. Container demand has never been so high and this will impact upon prices filtering through to the High Street because, for example, if you were bringing a container into the UK from somewhere like Shanghai, it would have cost you around $2,000 18 months ago. Today, you’ll be lucky to pay less than $10,000.”
And as we mentioned at the start, they play a key role in this region’s economy because North employs over 300 people at their quayside offices.
“The experience of our staff is unrivalled in the industry and we look after most shipping insurance claims. However, our biggest concern over the last 18 months has been the plight of seafarers around the world due to COVID restrictions. Crew were frequently stuck on board; others couldn’t join their ships. At one point there were around 300,000 seafarers unable to disembark. Some will have been on board their ships for over a year. We felt as though they should be regarded as key workers as they kept countries such as the UK, stocked with the goods they need in everyday life.” In other words, North P&I Club is picking up where our shipyards left off to ensure that the North East is still a major player in
