With today's prosperous economic environment, it is common for traders to do business across countries. Some of you may have experienced a change in voyage due to various reasons. Does marine cargo insurance provide coverage for traders if there is a change in voyage after it starts?

Generally speaking, marine cargo insurance provides flexible coverage for policyholders. According to the "Change of Voyage Clause", once the policyholder is informed about the change, he must provide written notice to the insurance company promptly. If there are changes in the voyage, the insurance company may need to re-assess the risk and the conditions and, as a result, an additional premium may be required for the continuance of cover.

Using the M/V Hyundai Fortune case as an example, after the vessel was towed to the nearest port of refuge, Oman, the sound containers were offloaded for transportation to other ships to Europe. In this case, as the vessel and the route have changed from those stated at the start of the voyage, in order to enjoy marine cargo insurance coverage, cargo owners need to inform the insurance company about the changes as soon as they know about them by written notice so as to obtain the consent of the insurance company.

If the cargo owners do not inform the insurance company once they are advised of any changes, they may not enjoy insurance cover as they have breached the contract mutually agreed by the cargo owners and the insurance company. Therefore, it is important to remind your customers to inform us in writing promptly if there are any changes in the voyage.

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