Yachties help cleft lip kids
Meet the host Network with GMT, fellow crew.
A6 Day in the life Just what do engineers do all day?
A8 Vol. 3, No. 9
YACHT CREW: WHO ARE YOU?
Nearly 1,200 crew took part in a Triton survey on nationalities and jobs on board. We break down the results, taking a look into who does what and from where they hail. A16-17
www.the-triton.com
B1 December 2006
Bridge: Insurers just don’t understand The story is common: The owner of a 78-foot Viking wants to move up to a 105-foot Broward and take his captain of several years with him. His insurance company, who he’s also worked with for years, won’t insure the captain because the size difference (in this case 34.6 percent larger) exceeds the insurer’s guidelines for what is deemed safe. “I think it’s silly to let the insurance company not let that captain move up,” said a captain at The Triton’s monthly From the Bridge roundtable discussion in November. “The Lucy Chabot Reed insurance company controls the owner.” “Sounds to me like ignorance on the part of the insurance company,” another captain said. “If you are proficient on an 80-foot boat, you know the actions and reactions of how a boat moves, you know the basics. There needs to be education.” With more and more stories like that swirling around
Ft. Lauderdale in this season of job changes, we though it interesting to ask our assembled captains how much influence insurance companies have in their careers. As always, individual comments are not attributed to any one captain in particular so as to encourage frank and open discussion. The attending captains are identified in a photograph on page A20. The influence of insurance companies, these captains agreed, can be considerable. “They seem to have guidelines that they can’t move from,” one captain said. “On two occasions, I wanted to move from an 80-foot Hatteras to a 100-foot Broward, and couldn’t. Some other guy who was the mate on a larger boat got those jobs. I’ve been claim free on four boats, but they still won’t clear me on a boat that’s over 10 feet bigger than the last boat.” There was a lot of discussion – and agreement – that
See THE BRIDGE, page A20
Liability clauses in repair yard contracts put captains at risk By Curtis Stokes I would like to bring a problem to the attention of the yachting industry. I scheduled a 2005 82-foot yacht for survey haul out at a Ft. Lauderdale yard. The yard faxed me its contract, which the insurance broker requested to review. The insurance underwriter rejected the contract and refused to insure the yacht while located at this yard, specifically rejecting the release of liability clauses. As much as I object to insurance companies in general, I have to agree with them that these clauses are completely over the top and are going to cause all of us major problems with refits, surveys and even dockage. I am sure many captains, brokers and owners do not read their yard contracts thoroughly or they wouldn’t be docked or hauled out in yards that include clauses like these, from the yard in question: “The owner, for itself, guests, servants, agents and/or employees hereby releases and agrees to indemnify and hold harmless [the yard] from any and all liability for personal injury, loss of life, and property damage (i) arising out of the negligence of [the yard] or its employees and agents in connection with [the yard’s] premises or the use of the storage space;
(ii) in connection with the owner’s boat, motor, and accessories while it is on the premises; and (iii) including loss or damage to the owner’s boat, motor, and accessories or contents thereof due to fire, theft, vandalism, collision, marina equipment, windstorm, rain, hurricanes, or any other casualty loss. “Owner warrants that it is adequately insured and the vessel shall remain adequately insured while at [the yard’s] premises and that the owner will look solely to its own insurance policy for recovery of any loss or damage to the vessel which is not caused by the intentional misconduct of [the yard]. Owner further agrees to have [the yard] named as an additional named insured on any such policy of insurance covering damages to the vessel or providing for liability coverage as a result of the use, operation, control of the vessel with full waiver of subrogation against [the yard], for all times the vessel remains at [the yard’s] premises.” I understand that shipyards – and all businesses these days for that matter – need to properly protect themselves against frivolous lawsuits and claims. However, there has to be some responsibility for negligence. The insurance companies
See LIABILITY, page A19
GIT-R-DONE: Mate Shaun Koper of M/Y Freedom does what it takes to keep the 105-foot Broward shipshape during the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show. For more photos from the show, see page A10. PHOTO/ANDY CARRIE