Logistics & Shipping · Professional · MBE™

MIML

Marine Insurance & Mercantile Law

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Logistics & ShippingProfessional level
30 Hours16 Modules
Self-pacedLearn at your own pace
CertificationEarn an MBE™ Credential

About the MIML Certification

When a container goes overboard or a consignment arrives wet, three questions follow: who bears the loss, whether the cover was adequate and what the carrier can limit its liability to. Marine Insurance & Mercantile Law prepares operations, claims and commercial staff to answer with method.

It covers the principles behind marine cover, the policy forms and clauses that define it, how underwriters rate a risk, how a claim runs from notice to settlement, the legal footing of trade contracts and carrier liability, and how to structure the program.

What You Will Learn

  • Apply utmost good faith, insurable interest, indemnity and subrogation to real cargo situations
  • Describe how insurers, brokers, P&I clubs and reinsurers share a marine risk
  • Select between Institute Cargo Clauses A, B and C and open or specific policy forms
  • Explain the rating factors, deductibles and limits an underwriter uses to price cargo cover
  • Distinguish hull and machinery, freight, loss of hire and P&I liabilities
  • Manage a marine claim step by step, including general average, salvage and the survey
  • Apply carrier liability rules, bills of lading and Incoterms 2020 to decide who insures what
  • Assess cyber, climate, sanctions and war risk exposure, then structure a coordinated cargo and hull program

What you take away

Skills You’ll Build

Marine Insurance & Mercantile Law skills
Marine cover selection
Policy clause interpretation
Cargo underwriting basics
Claims file management

Core Topics

  • Marine Insurance
  • Maritime Risk Management
  • Shipping Law
  • Claims Handling
  • Liability Assessment
  • Legal Compliance
  • Contract Management
  • Cargo Protection
  • Risk Analysis
  • Maritime Trade Governance

Who Is This Course For?

The buyers are usually companies that pay for marine cover, handle cargo claims or sign contracts of carriage: shipping lines, freight forwarders, cargo owners, brokers and the insurers themselves. Freight forwarding executives who are asked by clients what cover to buy, and who then field the claim when something goes wrong, are the most immediate fit.

Logistics practitioners in shipper organizations learn to challenge a settlement rather than accept it. Insurance professionals new to the marine class get the trade context their underwriting manuals leave out, and in-house legal advisors gain the operational vocabulary to draft usable clauses. Mixed claims, operations and commercial cohorts work best.

  • Shipping professionals
  • Logistics practitioners
  • Insurance professionals
  • Legal advisors
  • Logistics professionals
  • Freight forwarding executives

What’s Included?

  • Self-paced modules you can revisit anytime
  • Digital study resources and templates
  • Knowledge checks and practice assessments
  • A digital, verifiable MBE credential on completion

Course Outline

16 Modules30 hoursSelf-paced

The 16 modules move from principle to practice to law, and finish with program design. Modules 1 to 3 cover the foundations: what marine insurance is, how the market works and the core principles. Modules 4 to 6 are the product modules: cargo policies and clauses, underwriting and rating, then hull, freight and P&I cover.

Modules 7 to 9 deal with risk assessment, claims handling, general average, salvage and surveying. Modules 10 to 12 turn to mercantile law, carrier liability and the Incoterms and trade finance interface. Modules 13 to 15 address emerging, digital and geopolitical risks, and module 16 is a capstone on building a marine insurance program.

1. Foundations of Marine Insurance and Its Role in Global Trade
  • What Marine Insurance Is and Why It Matters to Trade
  • Key Terms and the Language of Marine Cover
  • The Origins and Evolution of Marine Insurance
  • Core Principles: Utmost Good Faith, Insurable Interest, Indemnity, and Subrogation
2. The Global Marine Insurance Market and the Role of Lloyd's
  • Structure of the Marine Insurance Market: Insurers, Brokers, and Buyers
  • Lloyd's of London and the Subscription Market
  • P&I Clubs and Mutual Insurance
  • Reinsurance and the Spreading of Marine Risk
3. Marine Insurance Principles, Insurable Interest, and Indemnity in Depth
  • Insurable Interest and When It Must Exist
  • The Doctrine of Utmost Good Faith and Disclosure Duties
  • Measure of Indemnity, Sums Insured, and Valuation
  • Subrogation, Contribution, and Double Insurance
4. Selecting and Interpreting Marine Insurance Policies
  • Types of Marine Insurance: Aligning Coverage with Risk
  • Understanding the Institute Cargo Clauses (A, B, and C)
  • Policy Forms: Open Cover versus Specific Policies
  • Special Clauses: War, Strikes, and Additional Perils
5. Marine Cargo Underwriting and Premium Rating
  • The Underwriting Process from Submission to Bind
  • Rating Factors: Commodity, Voyage, Vessel, and Packing
  • Deductibles, Sums Insured, and Coverage Limits
  • Loss History, Data, and Actuarial Pricing
6. Hull and Machinery, Freight, and Protection and Indemnity Cover
  • Hull and Machinery Insurance Fundamentals
  • Institute Time and Voyage Clauses for Hulls
  • Freight, Loss of Hire, and Increased Value Cover
  • Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Liabilities
7. Maritime Risk Assessment and Loss Prevention Strategies
  • Risk Categories in Maritime Operations
  • Risk Assessment Frameworks and Mitigation Strategies
  • Business Continuity Planning in Shipping
  • Common Causes of Cargo Damage
8. Professional Handling of Marine Insurance Claims
  • Key Loss Types: Total Loss, Partial Loss, and General Average
  • The Marine Claims Handling Process Step by Step
  • The Critical Role of Documentation and Evidence
  • Surveyors and Their Independent Role in Claims
9. General Average, Salvage, and Marine Surveying in Practice
  • The Principle of General Average and the York-Antwerp Rules
  • Average Adjustment and Cargo Contributions
  • Salvage, the LOF Contract, and the SCOPIC Clause
  • The Marine Survey: Types, Method, and Reporting
10. Legal Foundations and Contracting in Maritime Trade
  • Setting the Legal Stage for Global Trade
  • The Nature and Scope of Mercantile Law
  • Building Robust International Trade Contracts
  • Drafting Key Clauses and Avoiding Disputes
11. Liability, Carriage, and Dispute Resolution in Shipping
  • Carrier Liability in Maritime Transport
  • The Hague-Visby, Hamburg, and Rotterdam Rules
  • Bills of Lading: The Legal Backbone of Shipping
  • Liability in Multimodal Transport
12. Incoterms, Trade Finance, and the Insurance Interface
  • Incoterms 2020 and the Allocation of Risk
  • Who Insures What: Buyer, Seller, and Carrier Responsibilities
  • Documentary Credits, Letters of Credit, and Insurance Requirements
  • The Certificate of Insurance and Documentary Compliance
13. Emerging Risks and Future-Proofing Maritime Operations
  • The Shifting Landscape of Maritime Risk
  • Cyber Risks in Shipping: The Digital Threat Frontier
  • Climate Change and Environmental Uncertainty
  • ESG and Compliance in Maritime Trade
14. Digitalisation, InsurTech, and Data-Driven Marine Insurance
  • The Digital Transformation of Marine Insurance
  • Data, Telematics, and IoT in Cargo and Hull Risk
  • Parametric Insurance and Automated Claims
  • Blockchain, Smart Contracts, and Digital Documentation
15. Sanctions, War Risks, and Geopolitical Exposure
  • War Risk Cover and the Marine Market Response to Conflict
  • Sanctions Compliance and the Insurer's Exposure
  • Chokepoints, Piracy, and High-Risk Areas
  • Case Studies: Recent Geopolitical Marine Losses
16. Capstone: Building an Integrated Marine Insurance Program
  • Assessing an Organisation's Total Marine Risk Profile
  • Structuring a Coordinated Cargo, Hull, and Liability Program
  • Broker Selection, Placement, and Program Management
  • Claims Governance and Continuous Improvement

Complete the course assessments to earn the MIML credential

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it explain general average well enough for a claims desk?

Module nine is devoted to it. Participants learn the principle of general average and the York-Antwerp Rules, how an adjustment is prepared and how cargo contributions are calculated, then move to salvage, the LOF contract and the SCOPIC clause. The module ends with marine surveying, so a claims desk understands what the surveyor's report will contain and why it matters to the file.

Which policy wordings and clauses are covered?

Module four compares the main types of marine insurance and matches each to the risk it is meant for, then works through the Institute Cargo Clauses A, B and C, open cover against specific policies, and the special clauses for war, strikes and additional perils. Module six adds the hull side: Institute Time and Voyage Clauses, freight and loss of hire cover, and P&I liabilities.

Is the mercantile law content useful to non-lawyers?

It is written for them. Module ten sets the legal stage for global trade, explains the nature and scope of mercantile law, and then concentrates on building sound international trade contracts and drafting the clauses that most often prevent disputes. Commercial and operations staff come away able to read a contract critically and to brief a lawyer precisely when one is needed.

What will an underwriting trainee take from the program?

Module five follows the underwriting process from submission to bind and sets out the rating factors of commodity, voyage, vessel and packing, together with deductibles, sums insured and coverage limits and the use of loss history and actuarial data. Combined with the principles in module three and the loss causes in module seven, a trainee gains a complete picture of why a risk is accepted, rated or declined.

Does it explain carrier liability and who should insure under Incoterms?

Module 11 covers carrier liability in maritime transport, the Hague-Visby, Hamburg and Rotterdam Rules, the bill of lading as the legal backbone of shipping, and liability in multimodal transport. Module 12 then connects Incoterms 2020 to the allocation of risk, sets out who insures what among buyer, seller and carrier, and explains the insurance requirements inside documentary credits and the certificate of insurance.

What format does the learning take for a busy team?

Self-paced, online and available on web and mobile through the Blue Ocean learning platform, with 30 hours of content split across the 16 modules. The program combines lessons with digital study resources, templates, knowledge checks and practice assessments. There are no scheduled sessions, so a claims handler can study between files, and the administrator dashboard records progress and completion for the whole cohort.

How do I register for this course?

Use the Register Now button on this page. It opens Marine Insurance & Mercantile Law on the Blue Ocean Academy website, where you can enroll and start learning at your own pace.

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Your MBE credential is issued digitally and can be verified by employers. It carries the Mastering Business Excellence name, so you can add it to your professional profile as soon as you complete the course.

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