Domestic Policies Stop at the Water's Edge — This Crosses It.
Protection for goods, vessels, and liabilities on international waters
Ocean marine insurance is one of the oldest lines of coverage, protecting property, vessels, and legal liabilities connected with waterborne and international transit. It reaches exactly where a domestic inland marine or property policy cannot — across international waters — and is essential for any business that ships, receives, or moves goods and equipment overseas.
For importers and exporters, the exposure is not just a lost container. Under centuries-old maritime law, a single incident at sea can obligate every cargo owner on the vessel to share the loss, and the ocean carrier's own liability is capped far below the value of most shipments.
What Ocean Marine Insurance Covers
Ocean marine breaks into four principal forms, usually placed as separate coverages:
Ocean Cargo — Covers physical loss or damage to goods shipped by sea and their connecting legs, from warehouse to warehouse rather than merely port to port.
Hull & Machinery — Covers physical damage to the vessel itself — hull, machinery, engines, and equipment — from collision, grounding, fire, and sinking.
Protection & Indemnity (P&I) — Covers a vessel owner's third-party liabilities, including crew and passenger injury, pollution, wreck removal, and damage to docks and cargo carried.
Marine Liability — Covers the legal liability of marine businesses such as stevedores, terminal operators, ship repairers, marinas, and freight forwarders.
General Average Protection — Pays the insured's required contribution when cargo or the vessel is sacrificed to save the whole maritime venture.
What It Does Not Cover
Even a broad all-risks cargo form carries key exclusions:
Inherent vice and natural deterioration — spoilage, rust, ordinary leakage, and shrinkage
Insufficient or improper packing and preparation, a leading cause of denials
Delay, including loss of market, even when caused by an insured peril
War, strikes, riots, and terrorism, unless war and strikes clauses are added
Willful misconduct, contraband, and unseaworthiness the insured knew of
Who Needs Ocean Marine Insurance
Ocean marine fits any business exposed to international or over-water transit, including:
Importers and exporters who bear the risk of loss under their sales terms
Manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and commodities traders shipping overseas
Freight forwarders, NVOCCs, and customs brokers, for cargo and their own liability
Vessel owners and operators of ships, tugs, barges, and commercial fishing fleets
Contractors shipping machinery and equipment to overseas job sites
How Coverage Is Structured
Ocean marine is built on long-standing international market wordings, not standard state forms:
The London-market Institute Cargo Clauses set the breadth — ICC (A) all-risks, ICC (B) and ICC (C) named-peril, with war and strikes clauses added back by endorsement
Cargo is typically insured on an agreed-value basis at CIF value plus 10 percent, which is why letters of credit require 110 percent of invoice value
General average, under the York-Antwerp Rules, can require a cargo owner to post a bond before goods are released — cargo insurance pays that contribution, while an uninsured shipper pays out of pocket
Open cargo policies cover ongoing shipments on a reporting basis, while single-trip certificates cover one shipment
Hull and P&I are placed in specialty and mutual club markets, each with its own valuation and terms
Real-World Claim Examples
A container-ship fire leads to a declared general average, and cargo insurance posts the bond and pays the contribution to release the goods
Machinery shifts and is crushed in heavy weather — recoverable under ICC (A) but not under the narrow ICC (C) named perils
A tug grounds on an uncharted shoal, and hull and machinery pays the propeller and hull repairs
A crew member is injured and fuel spills, and protection and indemnity responds to the injury and pollution liability
A shipment insured only to the carrier's liability is lost, leaving the owner far short of its true value
Why Proper Placement Matters
Ocean marine rewards a broker fluent in its wordings, because the gaps are specific:
Relying on the ocean carrier's capped liability, which is far below most cargo values
Assuming a domestic inland marine or property policy reaches international transit — it does not
Buying narrow ICC (C) when the commodity needs all-risks cover
Failing to insure to CIF plus 10 percent, or leaving a war and strikes gap
Incoterms mismatches, where a buyer assumes the seller's insurance protects them after risk transfers
Regulatory & Contract Context
Ocean marine is largely a non-admitted, international line governed by federal admiralty law and English-origin market wordings rather than state form regulation, and most states exempt it from surplus-lines filing. Incoterms 2020 allocate who must insure — under CIF and CIP the seller must buy cargo cover for the buyer, with CIP now requiring all-risks ICC (A) and both requiring at least 110 percent of invoice value. Letters of credit routinely require a marine policy or certificate for 110 percent, blank-endorsed and covering war and strikes, making the placement a trade-financing requirement, and vessel operators may face pollution financial-responsibility rules satisfied through P&I.
Our Approach
At Cory Washington & Co., we place ocean marine with the international-market fluency it demands — matching cargo breadth to the commodity, insuring to CIF plus 10 percent, closing the war and strikes gap, and confirming the Incoterms actually put the risk where you think it is. We coordinate cargo, hull, P&I, and marine liability so an overseas shipment or vessel isn't left to the carrier's capped liability. We also insure related exposures, including inland marine, cargo, and general liability.
Our goal is coverage that follows your goods and vessels across the water — and stands up to a general average demand.
All insurance descriptions on this website are provided by Cory Washington & Co. LLC strictly for general informational purposes. They are not intended to be, and should not be relied upon as, legal, financial, or insurance advice. The information presented is general in nature and does not guarantee the availability, terms, conditions, or scope of any insurance coverage. Actual coverage is determined solely by the specific policy language issued by the insurer and remains subject to underwriting approval. Nothing on this website creates or implies an agent-client relationship, binds coverage, or alters any existing policy. Cory Washington & Co. LLC expressly disclaims any liability for actions taken, or not taken, based on the content provided here. For advice regarding your particular situation, please consult directly with a licensed insurance professional at Cory Washington & Co. LLC or another qualified insurance professional, and always review your policy documents in full.
See what to confirm in a ocean marine policy — what's standard, what's often limited, and what to add if needed — plus the gap most often missed, in the Ocean Marine Policy Feature Checklist.
Complete the Ocean Marine Supplemental online in a few guided steps, download the fillable PDF, or browse all applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get ocean marine insurance through Cory Washington & Co.?
Request a quote or contact our team. We start with a short conversation about your operations, analyze your exposures, then negotiate ocean marine insurance across multiple carriers that compete for your account and present options with the trade-offs explained. Cory Washington & Co. LLC is licensed in all 50 states.
What does ocean marine insurance cost?
It depends on your exposure. Ocean marine insurance is priced on factors like your industry, size, prior claims, and the limits and deductibles you select — so two businesses rarely pay the same. We shop your account across competing carriers and present the trade-offs in plain English.
Is ocean marine insurance required?
Requirements vary. Ocean marine insurance may be mandated by statute, or required under your contracts, leases, or loan agreements — and in many cases it is simply prudent given the risks involved. We look at your specific obligations and exposures, then recommend the coverage and limits that fit.
What if another agency has already declined or non-renewed my coverage?
Difficult, specialty, and previously-declined placements are a core part of our work. We access excess & surplus (E&S) and specialty markets that many generalist agencies cannot, and we explain the trade-offs clearly so you can decide with confidence.
Available in all 50 states. See how requirements differ in California, Texas, Florida, New York, or choose your state.