The Bermudan government is actively looking at ways to participate in the space insurance market and has even considered potentially underwriting policies.
Speaking at a space policy roundtable briefing in Westminster Hall, London, the Bermudan Minister…
The Bermudan government is actively looking at ways to participate in the space insurance market and has even considered potentially underwriting policies.
Speaking at a space policy roundtable briefing in Westminster Hall, London, the Bermudan Minister of the Environment, Planning & Infrastructure Strategy, Marc Bean, said that the island is looking to increase its presence in the global space sector and considers insurance as a viable option.
The British overseas territory recently set up a space enterprise zone that will seek to leverage Bermuda’s existing infrastructure, including its attractive regulatory and tax environment, as well as that it operates under the United Kingdom’s legal framework and that it has the rights to three orbital slots. It also has a brownfield site around its satellite tracking station that it is looking to develop.
The Bermudan government is now seeking to attract business for its enterprise zone and with the island already having a well established insurance and reinsurance market, which it claims is the largest offshore insurance industry in the world, a move into space coverage is a logical step.
As to what kind of role Bermuda could play in the satellite insurance sector, Neil Stevens, space underwriter at Atrium Space Insurance Consortium, suggested that given the over capacity in what is a very soft market, providing additional coverage was not the best strategy.
He added that developing and offering a new insurance product, such as a risk sharing offering, in the current market conditions would be challenging and that such plans would need to be introduced during an upswing in the rate cycle.
One possibility that was mooted was for Bermuda to take an active role in space reinsurance. The minister said that this was certainly a possibility for Bermuda and he actively encouraged reinsurers in Bermuda to look at the potential for space reinsurance.
However, one industry source told SatelliteFinance that the reason there is not already an establish reinsurance market is due to the comparatively low volume of placements being insured. He added that there are already a couple of space reinsurance markets but it is very much a case of a ‘niche within a niche’.
Indeed, Stevens suggested that the Bermudan government might be better placed to focus on attracting operators to establish a presence in the country through tax enhancement schemes and satellite financing options.
Minister Bean suggested that Bermuda is already looking to do so and intends the space enterprise zone to be as light touch as possible. However, he added that following the global crack down on tax havens, Bermuda has looked to be as transparent as possible, signing more than 24 tax information exchange agreements.
Bean said that Bermuda competes with the likes of Luxembourg and the Isle of Man to attract space businesses to base themselves there and hopes that this transparency will provide such companies with a secure framework.
He remarked: “We see both Luxembourg and the Isle of Man as competitors. The distinction is that we do substance and the Isle of Man is more style.”
Bermuda and the Isle of Man have been in a race to file for orbital slots around the 96W position. The latter lost its right to a slot at 96.5W after it was not filled by a satellite in time and Bermuda has moved to file for its own rights to 96.2W. Without going in to detail, Bean said that potential interference between the slots had been resolved and that Bermuda has three orbital positions including 96.2W under ITU remits.
