ITIC's comprehensive professional indemnity insurance is tailored to suit the specific needs of hydrographic professionals providing services such as:
Surveys
• Bathymetric
• Environmental
• Geological
• Geophysical
• Geotechnical
• Offshore
• Topographic
Specialist Services
• Ariel & laser imaging
• Hydrometeorology
• Wave measurement & analysis
• Oceanography
Why is Cover Necessary?
Historically, hydrograpic surveyors have chosen not to purchase professional indemnity insurance, a common view being that they have been working for years and have never experienced a claim. However, in the current business environment, there is an increasing need for professional indemnity cover.
As Hydrographic charts are now generally available to many members of the public, particularly following the introduction of the Electronic Navigational Chart and the increase of new companies which market and distribute hydrographic information, the number of people who rely on the information provided by the hydrographer, and therefore to whom the hydrographer owes a duty care, will have significantly increased.
To demonstrate potential liabilities of hydrographic professionals, the following claims scenarios may be helpful.
United States Hydrographic Office
In a case in the United States, a court held that the then US Hydrogaphic Office (USHO) was not negligent in causing a passenger ship to ground between Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard after the ship's owners claimed that a reef has been charted negligently. Firstly, the court held that the error on the chart was not a result of any negligence by the USHO because the organisation conducted the survey in 1939 with state-of-the-art techniques. The court also held that there was no pressing need for the USHO's sucessor, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), to perform a new survey. Additionally, the court held that the ship did not actually rely on the defective chart when fixing its course. Therefore, even if the chart had been defective, it did not cause damage. The US court of Appeal confirmed the second point, but the first was not mentioned in the judgement.
Swedish Hydrographic Office
The Swedish Hydrographic Office produced a navigation chart with an incorrectly marked rock. A Russian tanker struck the rock and filed a claim against the organisation. The Swedish Supreme Court held that the Hydrographic Office was liable to the tanker owners for the consequences. This included the damage to the ship. Additionally, the Court held that because that chart was defective, the owner had a valid defence to any claim for the cleanup costs of the resulting oil spillage and any pollution claims.
