Breeze insurance chief warns cargo war cover is falling behind modern conflict risk

Breeze, the embedded cargo insurance platform, has warned that prolonged disruption across the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Persian Gulf is exposing gaps in marine cargo war insurance that the market can no longer treat as theoretical.

Patrizia Kern-Ferretti, Chief Insurance Officer, Breeze, has more than 30 years’ experience in senior marine insurance roles, including leading Swiss Re Corporate Solutions’ global marine business and chairing the Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance.

“The marine insurance market has shown real resilience, but resilience is not the same as fitness for purpose,” said Kern-Ferretti.

“War clauses have often evolved after crises, from detainment wording to blocking and trapping addenda, and the market now has an opportunity to address today’s uncertainty before it becomes tomorrow’s arbitration.”

Kern-Ferretti said cargo buyers are less well-served than hull clients in several important respects. Unlike hull war cover, which can be cancelled mid-policy with seven days’ notice, cargo war cover cannot be cancelled once goods are in transit - a critical protection for cargo owners. However, this protection has limits: cargo war cover can still expire at discharge or within 15 days of port arrival, standard wording can exclude frustration of voyage, and cargo policies have no direct equivalent to the hull Detainment Clause, leaving cargo owners exposed in ways that hull clients are not.

Breeze warned that those gaps are becoming more significant as conflict-related route avoidance, blockage, and delayed transit turn technical policy questions into practical risk issues for freight forwarders, logistics service providers, and shippers.

“This is not cause for alarm, but we do need more clarity, better product design, and policy language that reflects the current risk environment,” said Kern-Ferretti.

Breeze is calling for a wider discussion on cargo war cover and for insurance innovation that makes protection easier to understand, access, and apply across exposed trade routes.

Kern-Ferretti said the marine insurance market has a chance to modernize cargo war cover before prolonged disruption forces policy language to be tested through disputes.