Lithium Ion Battery Failure: The Marine Insurance Sector’s Fastest Emerging Risk
by Callum Aitken
In The Marine Insurer, Callum Aitken addresses the growing challenge of lithium-ion battery failure in marine insurance, highlighting it as one of the sector’s fastest-emerging and most complex risks. He explains how the rapid rise of electric vehicles and battery-powered goods in global shipping has led to an increase in fire incidents, with misdeclared dangerous cargo and even small onboard devices like vapes and power banks contributing to significant losses.
The article describes how lithium-ion battery fires are especially severe due to thermal runaway, which is difficult to extinguish and often destroys crucial evidence needed for investigations. In response, insurers are adopting advanced detection technologies, specialized suppression systems, and digital forensic tools—including sensors, thermal imaging, and drones—to improve both prevention and post-incident analysis.
Read the full article, “The Marine Insurance Sector’s Fastest Emerging Risk,” in The Marine Insurer magazine (Issue 24, April edition), pages 62–63.
Callum Aitken
Callum has 8 years of experience working as an electronic and electrical engineer, with over 4 years working on electric and hybrid vehicles in the automotive industry. At Bentley Motors, he was responsible for developing and testing…
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