JWC Listed Area Underwriting Checklist

Purpose

Reusable checklist for marine cargo, hull war, P&I/liability, and accumulation review when a voyage, port call, vessel, or cargo may touch Joint War Committee / Joint Cargo Committee listed or watch-list areas.

1. Facts to collect before judgment

• Insured / assured / beneficiary names and corporate group.
• Cargo description, HS code if available, end-use, value, packing, sensitivity to delay/deterioration.
• Vessel name, IMO, flag, class, owner, manager, operator, charterer.
• Load port, discharge port, transshipment ports, bunkering ports, expected route, ETA/ETD.
• Whether route enters named listed countries, listed ports, or defined waters.
• Whether vessel will anchor, loiter, drift, STS transfer, or call offshore terminal/facility.
• Requested covers: ICC(A/B/C), War, Strikes, SRCC, delay, rejection, confiscation, storage, inland transit.
• Existing policy wording: war/strikes clauses, sanctions clause, trading warranty, held-covered, cancellation, declaration requirements.
• Sanctions-screening result for parties, vessel, cargo, banks, origin/destination, transshipment, and end-use.
• Portfolio exposure: cargo value, hull value, P&I limit, nearby bound risks, treaty/fac reinsurance limits.

2. Referral triggers

Refer to senior underwriter / war-risk authority if any apply:

• Voyage enters JWC/JCC listed area or country added/amended within last 30–60 days.
• Route includes Bab el-Mandeb, Gulf of Aden, Southern Red Sea, Strait of Hormuz, Gulf of Oman, Arabian/Persian Gulf, Northern Arabian Sea, or nearby waiting/anchorage zones.
• Cargo/vessel value exceeds authority threshold or creates material aggregation.
• War/Strikes/SRCC requested without specific voyage declaration and pricing.
• Sanctions nexus involving Iran, Syria, Russia, Yemen, Israel/Palestine conflict-related controls, dual-use goods, oil/petrochemicals, military-linked cargo, or opaque beneficial ownership.
• Vessel AIS gap, dark activity, high-risk flag/class, recent ownership change, or suspicious STS behavior.
• Charterparty/contract requires unsafe-port transit, fixed route, or delivery deadline that may increase delay/diversion exposure.
• P&I liability, pollution, GA/salvage, crew, or port liability exposure could materially exceed cargo-only view.

3. Underwriting judgment framework

Facts

State only verified route, parties, cargo, wording, source circular, and screening results.

Inference

Explain why the route/port/cargo produces elevated war, strikes, sanctions, piracy/terrorism, delay, or accumulation exposure.

Assumptions

List assumptions explicitly, e.g. no deviation, no transshipment, no sanctioned beneficial owner, current JWC list is still valid, declared value is complete.

Recommendation

Choose one:

• Accept as standard — no listed-area exposure confirmed.
• Accept with referral/AP and voyage conditions.
• Hold pending information.
• Decline due to sanctions/legal/accumulation/war-risk appetite.

4. Suggested conditions / information requests

• Prior declaration before listed-area entry.
• Current route plan and master/manager security assessment.
• Confirmation no sanctioned parties/cargo/end-use.
• No deviation or transshipment without prior agreement.
• AIS to remain operational except for documented safety reasons.
• Updated ETA/ETD and port stay/anchorage plan.
• War-risk AP quoted subject to no material change before entry.
• Explicit exclusion or sublimit for delay/loss of market where not intended.
• Reinsurance/accumulation clearance for high-value risks.

5. Claims and exposure notes

• Separate proximate cause: marine peril vs war peril vs strikes/riots/civil commotion vs piracy/terrorism vs sanctions/state action vs delay.
• Preserve voyage evidence: AIS, noon reports, port notices, naval advisories, bills of lading, charterparty instructions, deviation logs.
• Consider General Average / salvage where vessel/cargo saved after war-risk incident or diversion.
• Check whether late declaration, breach of trading warranty, or sanctions clause affects recoverability — 검증 필요 by wording and governing law.

6. AI/DX implementation hooks

• Maintain current JWC/JCC/club circular source register.
• Convert coordinates into versioned geofence polygons with effective dates.
• Link geofence hits to underwriting referral workflow.
• Use document extraction to identify war/strikes/sanctions/declaration/cancellation clauses.
• Generate decision memo with sections: facts, inference, assumptions, recommendation, uncertainty, sources.
• Keep human approval for bind/decline decisions; AI output is advisory.

Related

• [[2026-06-06]]
• [[2026-06-06 — JWC 2026 Listed Areas expansion: war-risk underwriting trigger]]