MYS 2013: Interview with Martin Baum of Pantaenius

By Paul Joseph

Insurance may not feature in the idyllic dreams of most yacht owners, but the reality is that it’s a vital consideration for anyone looking to invest in their own yacht.

We sat down with Martin Baum, Managing Director of Pantaenius, at the 2013 Monaco Yacht Show to discuss the importance of insurance in the yachting industry today, and much more.

“It’s been a very good boat show so far for us, a lot of good networking possibilities,” he said. “And it seems this year there are maybe a little less people here, but I think more serious people, so the quality is good.

“When I look at the nice fleet of yachts here in Hercule Harbour I see a big number in front of my eyes, so if you add up all of these boats I calculated roughly it would be about €5 billion euros in value. And so from an insurance point of view the biggest risk would be of course maybe that a fire would break out, and so these boat shows – as nice as they are – are actually a big risk from an insurance point of view.”

So from an insurance and general management perspective, what is the environment like for yacht owners today?

“I think owners in general have to cope with more legislation and more legal requirements,” he said. “And I think we have to, on the one hand, help get the industry more professional and, on the other, it cannot become too bureaucratic for the yacht owners, and that’s one of the big balances we have to find.

“I think there’s a lot of problems with the privacy of the yacht owners which is not really kept anymore. Everything is very transparent, you have paparazzi, so what we need to focus on is making the industry private again for the yacht owner.”

“I think important to understand for the yacht owners that the insurance rates are very low at the moment,” he said. “Another issue that a lot of yacht owners are facing is that the value of their boats is decreasing and they will have to make sure they accommodate their insurance according to the sum insured. That’s something that everyone should very much look into.”

You can watch the full video interview with Martin Baum above.

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By Paul Joseph