Insurance Marketplace Realities 2026 – Marine Cargo

With ongoing uncertainty around regional conflicts, trade disputes and war – global supply chains remain incredibly vulnerable to large-scale disruption. Potential armed conflict or breakdowns in normalized trading relationships can lead to delays in the supply chain as well as prolonged exposure of goods in the course of transit to natural and war risk perils.

The end of the de minimis exemption for parcel shipments valued under $800 has come to an abrupt end in September 2025. Reports suggest postal traffic to the U.S. has fallen 80% since the closure of the widely used tax loophole. The reduction in frictionless imports to the U.S. from international e-commerce and other businesses could lead to further delays to U.S. ports and customs authorities, leaving containerized cargoes exposed.

According to CBRE, the industrial real estate market saw a significant increase in leases of 1 million sq. ft. or more in 2024. This growth has been driven by a boom in ecommerce following the COVID-19 pandemic, and while it has led to streamlined supply chains and operating efficiency for Insureds, proliferation of the “Mega Distribution Center” creates single-point of failure exposure for clients requiring increased limits of liability and a commensurate increase in exposure to natural catastrophe perils, which continue to be exacerbated by climate change.

Marine cargo and stock throughput rates remain generally soft, with well-performing programs typically enjoying rate reductions of +5% to +10% or more when marketed at renewal. Non-desirable exposures and accounts with adverse loss experience continue to draw scrutiny and may be subject to rate increases at renewal.

Capacity remains incredibly strong; most markets are competing for market share and top-line growth. In many cases, insurers are entertaining larger line sizes / total limit deployment compared to the past five years. Carriers are actively looking to underwrite more stock throughput risks than in recent years.

Most of the coverage tightening observed throughout the recent hard-market cycle has been reversed, with increased flexibility from insurers and broad acceptance of broker manuscript policy terms and conditions. However, insurers continue to scrutinize exposures to geopolitical and war risk and tend to require geographic exclusions for those regions of the world.