JR Shipping and Anker Crew Insurance share the same conviction:

Providing crewmembers with good care in case of an accident or illness

JR Shipping publishes its staff magazine E-news every year. Anker Crew Insurance got the opportunity at the end of 2017 to show ‘the face of the insurer’. Below the article that we have written for E-news.

Everyone at JR Shipping knows that a safe working culture is an important cornerstone of our shipping company. Nevertheless, especially working at sea involves risks and sometimes something goes wrong. To be certain that in case of an accident or illness crewmembers will be provided with proper guidance, JR Shipping has taken out insurance with Anker Crew Insurance: a party speaking our language. In 1907, several shipowners in the north of the Netherlands jointly decided to bear the possible consequences of an accident or illness on board. In this article Egbert Maalderink of Anker Crew Insurance tells you more about the insurer whose motto is: ‘People matter most’.

“As an international account manager at Anker Crew Insurance, I visit the Harlingen-based JR Shipping Group on a regular basis to speak with Robert-Jean Dupuis (head of insurance department) or Teije Velds (head of crewing department) about risks which may arise on board the ships and the solutions we can provide for that purpose. It concerns, for instance, situations in which a crewmember has an accident on board – see the practical example below – or falls ill in the workplace.

My colleagues and I provide advice and assistance to JR Shipping and other maritime employers in the area of crew insurances, which we do worldwide. In addition to customers in the Netherlands, we have customers in countries including Spain, Germany and England, but also in Singapore and in the Philippines. Because we are dealing with different cultures, the discussions we hold are also very different. Apart from shipping companies, Anker has customers such as maritime employment agencies, fisheries undertakings and yacht owners.

What does Anker Crew Insurance do?

As a crew insurance provider for over 110 years, Anker has provided insurance cover worldwide for crew members employed by maritime employers. Anker provides maritime employers with insurance solutions for the consequences of illness, incapacity for work, death and accidents of their crew members. If a crewmember falls ill while being at work or has an accident, we will arrange for him or her to be taken from board and to a hospital, anywhere in the world, where he or she may rely on receiving the best care. In addition to our insurance solutions, our objective is to support maritime employers as much as possible. For instance, as from January 2018, we will provide absenteeism support services as part of our sick leave insurance. Our work is based on the idea that ‘People matter most’. Our customers, their crewmembers and other maritime employers come first. Therefore, no bureaucratic diversions, we promptly come up with practical solutions. Also – or particularly – in cases which are not so easy to solve.

Things that can go wrong – and how to solve them

One of our ships is moored in Hamburg to be unloaded. While he is on his way to the barge, a colleague loses his footing on a slippery step and falls down the stairs, and his right leg lands in a strange position. The second mate, who was walking behind him, immediately reports the incident via the walkie-talkie to the ship’s master, who contacts the agent. The master and the second mate note that the leg is in a strange position and is probably broken. The agent arranges an ambulance and our colleague is speedily taken to the hospital.

In the meantime, the ship’s master has also informed the shipping company of the incident. For safe manning purposes a relief navigator needs to be arranged without delay. Because JR Shipping has taken out an insurance for our colleague with Anker Crew Insurance covering medical expenses and repatriation, the shipping company also informs Anker of the hospitalization, with the question how all this has to be arranged further. The claims handler explains to the shipping company the manner in which our colleague will be assisted.

The Anker Alarm Service will be called in. They perform a pivotal function in relation to the local shipping agent, the hospital and if possible also with respect to our colleague. After being treated in the hospital and having received a fit to fly certificate, Anker Alarm Service will arrange the return journey. Given his limited mobility, our colleague will be escorted by a nurse during the return journey. The nurse will accompany our colleague until he is in the hospital or until our colleague is home again.

By engaging Anker Crew Insurance and its partners, we have organized that you will be properly assisted also in case of illness and/or an accident!

That is how we do things at Anker Crew Insurance – people matter most.

E-news can be downloaded from the JR Shipping website.