Ocean Marine Insurance
Ocean marine insurance covers exposures tied to shipping goods over water and operating commercial vessels. It typically includes ocean cargo for goods in international transit, plus hull and machinery and protection and indemnity for vessel owners. It picks up where standard property and inland marine policies stop at the water’s edge.
If your business ships goods across oceans, owns or operates watercraft for commercial use, or imports and exports, ocean marine insurance covers exposures that land-based policies were never built for. We help you match the right marine coverage to how your goods and vessels actually move.
What does ocean marine insurance cover?
- Ocean cargo: physical loss or damage to goods shipped internationally by sea or air.
- Hull and machinery: physical damage to commercial vessels you own or operate.
- Protection and indemnity (P&I): a vessel owner’s or operator’s liability for injury, pollution, and damage.
- Marine liability: broader liability tied to marine operations.
Who needs it? Importers and exporters, businesses that buy or sell goods internationally, freight forwarders, and owners or operators of commercial watercraft.
California’s ports handle a large share of the nation’s trade, so import and export cargo exposure is central to many local businesses. Standard commercial property and inland marine policies typically exclude ocean transit, and the terms of sale (Incoterms) in your contract determine when risk passes to you, which shapes what you need to insure.
How we help: We look at what you ship, where it travels, and the terms of your contracts, then structure ocean cargo and, where relevant, hull and liability coverage. For businesses with warehousing and inland legs too, we coordinate with stock throughput and inland marine.
