History and Harmonisation

1.1 A system of maritime loans apparently existed in the ancient civilisations of Babylon, ² Phoenicia, Greece ³ and Rome, ⁴ but marine insurance, as such, originated in Genoa where research has recently established that a cargo policy was underwritten on 18 March 1343, some three years earlier than was previously thought to be the case. ⁵ This first policy insured 10 bales of cloth for a voyage from Porto Pisano to an unnamed Sicilian port, but history does not record whether any claim arose for loss of or damage to the cargo. ⁶ In the fourteenth century, this system of marine insurance was practiced in all the Italian city states, ⁷ from where the word “policy” or, in Italian “police”, meaning loan, ⁸ originated, and it was there that marine insurance first gained statutory recognition. ⁹