MARINE ADJUSTING SOLUTIONS INC.

Marine Adjusting Solutions was founded by a team of five experienced Adjusters (one in the United Kingdom and four in Greece), all partners in the company.

The five Adjusters had all been involved in Associated Marine Adjusters (AMA), the largest Average Adjusting company based in Greece, formed by the partners in 1989 and subsequently purchased by Shipmanagement Company V-Ships.

In order to establish an independent Average Adjusting company once more, Marine Adjusting Solutions was formed in 2013. In 2021, another senior and vastly experienced Adjuster joined the partnership, merging FairSeas Average Adjusters with MAS.

The collective experience of the Partnership team over several decades in Greece comes also with additional first-hand experience of Average Adjusting in the United Kingdom, New York, Antwerp, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and the Philippines

What is an Average Adjuster?

For those new to shipping, and in particular marine insurance and the related claims procedures, we give here a very brief outline of the Average Adjuster’s role.

In the earliest days, some three thousand years ago, the Average Adjuster sat on the quayside and collected General Average contributions from ship and cargo interests. The need for this arose when there was a voluntary sacrifice made or expenditure incurred, at a time of common peril to those parties involved in a maritime adventure, and all

parties would be called upon to bear their share of the loss or expenditure. The basic principle of General Average has survived the rise and fall of civilisations and empires, but the invention of insurance, just a few centuries ago, together with the growth of commerce and industry in the eighteenth century, laid the grounds for a transformation.

Whilst the concept of General Average has lasted throughout history, it has been developed and extended by the introduction of the York/Antwerp Rules and the many changes made to them over the years. These have made General Average more responsive to the commercial needs of parties involved in maritime trade, and the work of the Average Adjuster has therefore widened correspondingly. His main role is still however as an independent and impartial arbitor between the parties, for the prompt and commercial settlement of claims and the avoidance of costly legal disputes.

The Average Adjuster still regularly deals with claims arising out of General Averages, and in today’s market these are then usually applied to the insurances covering the relevant parties. His expertise is now however called upon more frequently in the formulation of all types of claims on marine insurance policies.

These generally include damages to ships and cargoes, claims for loss of freight, hire or earnings, claims on repairers’ and builders’ policies and in addition such areas as claims on mortgagee interest, average disbursements policies and war risk claims which are sadly becoming more common place.

The Average Adjuster also assists with claims against third parties such as charterers, stevedores and owners of colliding vessels.

Into the Future

 

The sea has always been, and will remain, the cheapest and most efficient means of transport of goods worldwide, and the rapid development of economies in Asia and elsewhere will give rise to new opportunities. In the commercial maritime world however, new opportunities will, as ever, present new challenges, and the increasing globalisation of marine insurance will also continue to bring many important changes in the market and policy conditions. This means that the modern Average Adjuster must constantly re-evaluate and broaden the services he offers to owners and insurers of property subject to maritime perils.

To our historic role with ship, cargo and freight we have already added such areas of business as offshore installations, storage vessels, harbour facilities and specialist vessels such as hydrofoils and high speed catamarans with confidence to whatever may emerge in the coming years, be it submarines for tourism or sub-Arctic transport, sea bed mining and associated ship loading facilities, or other unexpected developments.

Our Commitment to You

 

With our twin main offices in UK and Athens and our expanding network of representatives and contacts, we remain the largest Adjusting company in Greece.

Being wholly owned by its partners and directors, the Group remains independent of all shipowning and insuring interests, whilst our structure enables us to maintain the closest working relationship with our clients, which we see as the key to our continued success.

In addition to the preparation of claims against insurers and various third parties, we are able to review and advise on your present insurances and your future needs and opportunities, including the preparation of additional policy wordings or advice on different insurance markets or policy forms.

The Group receives its appointments from owners of vessels, whether single ships or major fleets, from cargo owners or from insurers, depending on the nature of the claim or of the insurances concerned. We can also act as co-adjusters for parties such as cargo insurers, or as claims advisers for principals not requiring a full average adjusting service. We handle claims for all vessel types, whether large or small, including dry cargo, container, passenger, oil or chemical tankers, gas carriers, offshore supply vessels, tugs or other specialised vessel types.