Marine Insurance Premiums Reach $42.6bn as IUMI Warns Market Remains Soft

Global Marine Insurance Premiums Reach $42.6 Billion

The latest International Union of Marine Insurance market analysis puts global marine premium income at $42.6 billion for 2025, an increase of 5.5% from the previous year.

At first glance, that suggests a strengthening insurance market.

IUMI’s interpretation is more complicated.

Marine premium income can rise because the amount and value of risk being insured is increasing. Global trade volumes, commodity prices, vessel values, offshore activity, exchange rates and other exposure measures can all expand the total premium pool without insurance rates themselves becoming harder.

That distinction is central to understanding the 2026 report.

Marine Insurance Market 2026: Where the $42.6bn Comes From

Transport and cargo insurance remains by far the largest part of the global marine insurance premium base.

*IUMI’s marine liability figure excludes P&I business written through the International Group of P&I Clubs. Percentages are reported on a rounded basis.

The mix matters because these sectors do not respond to the same commercial drivers.

Cargo premiums are closely linked to trade volumes, commodity values and the value of goods moving through global supply chains. Hull insurance is affected by vessel values, fleet size, ship age, claims and repair costs. Offshore energy responds to oil and gas activity, asset values and increasingly the expansion of renewable-energy infrastructure.

Europe Still Leads Global Marine Insurance — But Asia Keeps Growing

Europe remains the world’s largest marine insurance region, accounting for 46.5% of global premium income.

Asia-Pacific follows at 30.8%, while Latin America, North America, the Middle East and Africa account for smaller shares.

IUMI identifies Asia — and particularly China — as one of the most important structural growth areas in global marine insurance.

That expansion reflects more than insurance-sector growth alone. China is simultaneously a major shipbuilder, cargo exporter, commodity importer, shipping market and increasingly important insurance centre.

The result is a gradual shift in the geography of marine risk underwriting.

Why Is the Marine Insurance Market Still Soft?

This is the most important part of the new data.

A 5.5% rise in marine insurance premiums does not mean that underwriting conditions strengthened by 5.5%.

IUMI says a significant part of the reported increase was supported by foreign-exchange movements.

The weakness of the US dollar meant that several major reporting currencies appreciated by approximately 7% to 13%. Because global marine premium figures are reported in dollars, this mechanically increased the dollar value of premium income reported in other currencies.

At the same time, IUMI reports high levels of insurance and reinsurance capacity.

IUMI therefore describes the underlying market across the major marine lines as soft.

This is particularly important when considering the wider shipping environment. Tide Signal’s ClarkSea Index analysis shows how strong vessel earnings and high asset utilisation can coexist with rapidly changing operational risk.

Marine Cargo Insurance Premiums Reach $24.2 Billion

Cargo remains the largest marine insurance class.

Global cargo insurance premiums reached $24.2 billion in 2025, representing a 6.9% increase and approximately 57% of the global marine premium pool.

IUMI says China was a major growth driver.

Chinese cargo premium income increased by 19%, supported by domestic insurance products and valuable exports including electric vehicles, photovoltaic products, lithium batteries and other high-value goods.

That development creates a wider risk question for marine underwriters.

The value carried inside a container can be radically different depending on whether it contains low-value general merchandise, advanced semiconductors, lithium batteries, machinery or other high-value technology.

IUMI has also pointed to the first visible insurance effects of the global artificial-intelligence investment race, particularly through the movement of high-value semiconductors.

For cargo insurers, this means exposure cannot be understood by counting containers alone.

IUMI’s dedicated 2026 cargo insurance analysis nevertheless says competitive pressures and additional capital continue to soften the market.

Ocean Hull Insurance Premiums Rise 9.4% to $10.5 Billion

Ocean hull recorded an even larger headline increase.

Global ocean hull premium income reached $10.5 billion in 2025, up 9.4%.

Europe remains the dominant hull insurance region with approximately 51.3% of global ocean hull premiums.

But here again, the headline increase does not necessarily represent a hardening insurance market.

IUMI notes that global fleet growth continues to outpace growth in the underlying hull premium base once other effects are considered.

In practical terms, insurers are covering more ships and increasingly valuable assets while competition for business remains strong.

That creates pressure on underwriting margins precisely as several structural risks are becoming more expensive.

The Global Fleet Is Getting Older — and That Matters to Insurers

One of the strongest warning signals in the IUMI data is vessel age.

The average age of the global fleet has now reached approximately 22.4 years.

Older vessels are not automatically unsafe or uninsurable, but ageing creates several challenges for underwriters and owners.

• machinery failures can become more frequent or expensive;
• maintenance requirements can increase;
• spare parts may become harder to source;
• repair costs continue to rise;
• older machinery may require more extensive intervention;
• retrofits can add technical complexity;
• vessel values and repair economics can become harder to balance.

IUMI expects global fleet growth of approximately 3% by the end of 2026, meaning insurers must consider both expanding exposure and the changing age profile of the existing fleet.

The financial implications also connect with Tide Signal’s analysis of shipping finance and carbon risk, where asset age, regulatory exposure, retrofit requirements and future employability increasingly intersect with vessel financing and value.

Claims Are Stable — But Attritional Losses Are Building

The 2025 claims environment did not contain a catastrophic loss large enough to materially distort the entire global marine market, according to IUMI.

That helped maintain relatively stable overall claims conditions.

But stability at the headline level does not mean insurers are free from pressure.

IUMI warns that attritional losses are accumulating, particularly in ocean hull.

These are the more routine claims that individually may not dominate industry headlines but collectively erode underwriting profitability.

For hull insurers, that can include machinery damage, collisions, groundings and other physical-damage claims alongside steadily rising repair expenditure.

This helps explain the contradiction inside the current market: insurers are writing a larger premium pool but can still face pressure on profitability.

War Risk Is Becoming a Bigger Marine Insurance Variable

Geopolitical exposure is increasingly difficult to separate from conventional marine underwriting.

IUMI notes that some markets report war premium together with bluewater hull premium, making it difficult to completely isolate the impact.

Red Sea attacks were already influencing war-risk premium figures during 2025, and IUMI expects the effect to become more visible in 2026 data.

The issue goes far beyond the Red Sea.

Shipping risk around the Middle East has demonstrated that an owner’s commercial decision to accept a voyage can depend on whether suitable insurance is available, on what terms, and at what additional premium.

Tide Signal’s War Risk Premiums in Shipping guide explains how additional insurance cost can move from a back-office issue into the voyage economics themselves.

The same mechanism is visible in the Strait of Hormuz shipping market, where security conditions, insurance, owner acceptance and available tonnage interact.

IUMI President Frédéric Denèfle has separately argued during the Rotterdam conference that marine insurers sit at the centre of war-risk management for international trade.

Marine Insurance Capacity Is High — Why Does That Matter?

Insurance works as a market.

When underwriting and reinsurance capacity is scarce relative to the risk seeking cover, insurers generally gain pricing power.

When capacity is abundant, competition can push in the opposite direction.

IUMI says the market is currently seeing very high insurance and reinsurance capacity, intensifying competition.

That can benefit shipowners and cargo interests through increased choice and competitive pricing, but it also raises a longer-term question for insurers: are rates adequately reflecting an increasingly complicated risk environment?

That question becomes more important as shipping faces:

• geopolitical conflict;
• longer and changing trade routes;
• ageing tonnage;
• alternative fuels;
• battery and high-value cargoes;
• cyber risk;
• higher repair costs;
• more expensive vessels;
• sanctions and compliance complexity.

The strategic insurance angle can also be seen in Tide Signal’s analysis of BRICS reinsurance and marine P&I, where states are exploring additional insurance and reinsurance capacity outside established structures.

Offshore Energy Insurance Reaches $4.82 Billion

Unlike cargo and hull, the offshore energy premium base was broadly flat.

IUMI reports $4.82 billion in global offshore energy premiums during 2025, an increase of only 0.1%.

The UK remains dominant, accounting for approximately 62.7% of global offshore energy premiums.

IUMI describes offshore energy as being in a prolonged soft market cycle despite major structural changes across the energy system.

Investment is increasing in conventional oil and gas as well as renewable energy, expanding both the value and complexity of assets requiring cover.

Yet excess underwriting capacity and competitive pricing continue to pressure profitability.

Marine Liability Is 7.3% — But This Does Not Include IG P&I

Marine liability accounted for approximately 7.3% of the reported global marine insurance premium base.

There is an important qualification.

IUMI’s figure does not include P&I business covered by the International Group of P&I Clubs.

That means the 7.3% share should not be interpreted as representing the complete global shipowner liability market.

P&I provides a different layer of protection covering third-party liabilities associated with ship operation and is structurally different from conventional hull and cargo insurance.

This distinction also matters when comparing the traditional marine market with proposals for alternative insurance systems such as the BRICS reinsurance initiative.

What Do the $42.6bn Marine Insurance Figures Mean for Shipowners?

For an individual owner or ship manager, the headline size of the global premium market is less important than the commercial forces behind it.

The 2026 IUMI data points to five practical issues.

This is why a soft global insurance market should not be interpreted as meaning every ship, cargo or voyage is becoming cheaper to insure.

Marine insurance is increasingly segmented by the specific risk being presented.

Why Strong Shipping Markets Do Not Automatically Mean Strong Insurance Markets

Shipping and insurance do not move in perfect lockstep.

High charter rates can increase insured values and financial exposure while also improving owners’ ability to absorb operating costs.

Strong vessel values can increase the amount at risk in a casualty.

More trade can increase cargo premium volume but can also increase accumulation exposure in major ports, terminals and vessels.

Meanwhile, high insurance capacity can keep underwriting prices competitive even while the physical risk becomes more complex.

That is precisely why the current IUMI data is commercially interesting.

What to Watch in the Marine Insurance Market Next

The next phase of the market will depend less on the $42.6 billion headline and more on whether risk begins to outrun pricing.

Key signals include the development of ocean hull loss ratios, repair-cost inflation, ageing vessels, war-risk exposure, alternative-fuel casualties, cargo accumulation and the amount of fresh underwriting capital entering the market.

Geopolitics is particularly important.

The global insurance market may have abundant overall capacity, but capacity for an individual ship, cargo or voyage can tighten rapidly when a route moves into a high-risk category.

That is why marine insurance increasingly belongs in the same commercial discussion as freight, asset values, chartering and voyage economics.

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