Poseidon Principles Adds Marine Insurers

The Poseidon Principles, which banks use to track and disclose the climate alignment of shipping loan portfolios, has expanded associate membership to include marine insurers, the organisation announced in Copenhagen on 9 September 2026. Its signatories represent nearly three quarters of global shipping finance.

According to the announcement, signatories voted unanimously at the annual meeting on 28 May 2026 to admit insurers and related organisations, including P&I clubs, brokers, reinsurers and insurance institutions, as associate members. The change brings lenders and insurers onto one platform to support decarbonisation across the sector.

Merging Two Parallel Initiatives

Since its launch in 2019, Poseidon Principles membership had been limited to financial institutions, which Splash247 described as lenders providing secured credit for vessels under International Maritime Organization rules. A group of marine insurers established the Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance (PPMI) in 2021, giving insurers a channel to support shipping’s climate goals. The two bodies operated separately, using comparable decarbonisation trajectories and calculation approaches, with the Global Maritime Forum providing secretariat support to both.

Poseidon Principles created a new associate membership tier in December 2025 for hedge funds, private equity firms and other shipping-finance institutions. The expansion enabled PPMI to join the Poseidon Principles directly.

Paul Taylor, global head of maritime industries at Societe Generale and chair of the Poseidon Principles, said the addition of marine insurers builds on the associate membership expansion made at the end of 2025. “Financial institutions and insurers play complementary roles in supporting shipping’s decarbonisation,” he said.

PPMI Winds Down as Members Transfer

Patrizia Kern-Ferretti, chief insurance officer at Breeze and former chair of PPMI, said “Folding PPMI into the Poseidon Principles is a natural next step to strengthen the impact of both initiatives,” bringing insurance-side expertise together with that of lenders.

PPMI ceased operating as a distinct entity on 9 September 2026. Its former members, Cosco Shipping Captive Insurance, CTX Special Risks, Gard, Norwegian Hull Club and Willis, have become the first associate members under the unified Poseidon Principles structure.

Why It Matters for Operators

Who it concerns: shipowners and managers who borrow from signatory banks or insure with the former PPMI members, and the P&I clubs, brokers and reinsurers now eligible to join.

Which decision it affects: the data owners hand to their financiers. Under the four Poseidon Principles, signatory banks measure the emission intensity of their shipping portfolios each year, rely on the fuel oil consumption data that ships report to the IMO Data Collection System (DCS), and include a covenant clause in new shipping business to secure access to that data. Signatories also commit to working with clients to gather the information needed to assess climate alignment.

What is still missing: the announcement does not say what reporting obligations associate members take on, or whether insurers will ask owners for DCS fuel data. Insurer data requests modelled on the lenders’ practice are possible but unconfirmed. The sources show no effect of membership on underwriting or premiums.