Bayes MSc student puts learning into practice with solo publication in leading journal

A Bayes Business School MSc student is making early waves in the insurance industry following a solo publication in a leading journal.

Andrew Mackenzie, a student on Bayes’ MSc in Insurance and Risk Management course, has had a busy year. Juggling the final six months of the part-time course, he has now had his first academic journal submission approved, based on his dissertation, to earn the Chartered Insurance Institute’s (CII) Fellowship professional accreditation.

The study, which explores the potential impact of non-compliance with the IMO 2020 Sulphur Cap on a vessel’s seaworthiness, legality and marine insurance coverage has been accepted by the leading journal, SN Business & Economics, a Springer Nature journal.

For Andrew, the fact he had contributed to missing literature on the topic made the acceptance so pleasing.

“It has been a really rewarding process,” said Andrew, who spoke with surveyors, legal professionals, loss adjusters, underwriters, and brokers as part of the study. “The main idea motivating it was the lack of research into the subject before. It was a very topical subject. In the insurance market, on the claims side, this is a concern and if there was a route to vessels being unseaworthy then it could have resulted in huge exposures to ship-owning clients.

“A lot has been said on the subject but there had been no substantive effort to see if this was indeed a worthwhile fear. It was helpful for the industry and is an important subject for the future as environmental concerns continue to be an emerging risk.”

Andrew says that he hopes his study has proved to underwriters and ship-owners that more needs to be done to ensure due diligence is exercised further to mitigate against these potential exposures. He is now planning to explore the issue further in his upcoming MSc dissertation.

“This is the tip of the iceberg. Ship-owning clients must be more cognisant of environmental matters as issues such as this will be increasing in the years ahead.”

Andrew was also the winner of the Rutter Medal in 2022, offered by the CII to the best new Fellow, for his role in bringing the subject to a wider audience.

Now a Fellow member of the CII, Andrew works as a Marine Claims Adjuster for Atrium Underwriters Ltd. The company gave Andrew the opportunity to study at Bayes, and he says his learning is already informing his day-to-day work.

“Studying at Bayes has been a fantastic opportunity,” he said. “The contacts are invaluable, both within my immediate industry and many others coming from rich and varied backgrounds, and other international insurance markets. The subject matter is fantastic, and the modules are reinforcing my learning.”

Dr Cormac Bryce, Course Director on the MSc in Insurance and Risk Management, said: “Andrew is conducting invaluable research in area of vessel seaworthiness for both the industry, and academia more generally. He is testament to the calibre of students that come to join us on the MSc Insurance and Risk Management programme, and the cutting-edge topics that the course covers.”

Can non-compliance with the IMO 2020 Sulphur Cap impact vessel seaworthiness, legality and marine insurance coverage? by Andrew Mackenzie is published in Springer Nature.

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