Marine insurers say a major ongoing challenge for the industry is weather volatility across northern Queensland and Western Australia, and the latest cyclone season has given that argument fresh force. Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle, formed on March 17, 2026, hit north Queensland as a category 4 system on March 20, crossed into the Northern Territory, then re-intensified and made landfall again in north-west Western Australia as a severe category 4 cyclone. For brokers, that track is more than a weather story: It could be a live demonstration of how a single event can test appetite across multiple northern exposures.
“One problem facing the marine industry is the volatility of weather over this side of the country, with ongoing storms which have been costly,” said Rick Wolozny (pictured), chair of Trident Insurance Group, the Perth based insurance broker. “Like a lot of insurance products, the availability of some covers up about the 26th parallel becomes more challenging.”
These increasingly challenging events come as the wider insurance market is already reading weather as a pricing and capacity problem, not just a claims problem. Allianz Commercial said shipping is increasingly exposed to the consequences of climate change and reported that extreme weather was a factor in at least eight vessel losses globally in 2023. In its 2025 review, Allianz said extreme weather was again a factor in at least seven losses during 2024, underscoring that this is not a one-off deterioration but a stubborn feature of the risk landscape.
Wolozny said the pinch point is most obvious in hull cover.
“Some hull cover for boats can be difficult to place if they are in marinas up in North Queensland or northwest of Western Australia,” he said. “It can be done, but there are limited markets.”
That is consistent with broader market evidence. The International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) said in September 2025 that the global hull market remained challenging even as premium income rose to about US$9.67 billion in 2024 and warned that heavy-weather claims had spiked. Cefor, the Nordic association of marine insurers, reported that weather-related casualties increased from the fourth quarter of 2023 through the second quarter of 2024, with second-quarter heavy-weather claims jumping to 10 from a prior seasonal norm of two to four; it said rerouting and climate change might be contributing factors.
The large-vessel story is especially relevant for brokers handling commercial marine accounts. Gard, the marine insurer, found that the six-year average claims frequency for stack collapses is 1% on feeder vessels but 9% on ultra-large container vessels, and said prolonged exposure to rough weather can undermine cargo securing. Allianz has also warned that large container vessels are vulnerable to extreme rolling and pitching in certain sea conditions, increasing stress on container stacks and securing systems.
So the marine insurance challenges in Australia sit inside a wider context of volatility across a global hull market already wrestling with larger and more expensive vessels, ageing fleets, costlier repairs and more severe attritional losses. IUMI says the average world-fleet age has reached 22.6 years, with 35% of ships more than 25 years old, adding to concern about repairability and loss severity.
Wolozny suggested the market’s concern about weather volatility and the vulnerability of ships is also broadening geographically as more weather issues make an impact south of 26th parallel.
“Certainly anything on a coast can cop a battering, which means more claims and more costs,” he said.
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Australian policy settings show how stubborn the affordability issue has become in the country’s northern regions. The federal parliamentary review of the Cyclone Reinsurance Pool (ARPC) recommended that government publish modelling on the costs and benefits of including marine insurance in the pool, a sign that marine affordability and availability remain unresolved. ARPC’s own data show recent cyclone losses have mounted quickly, including estimated ultimate claims costs of $95 million for Cyclone Jasper, $48 million for Cyclone Kirrily and $18.8 million for Cyclone Zelia, while Cyclone Alfred alone is estimated at $1.7 billion.
For brokers, Northern Australia could be a frontline test of whether marine hull insurance can stay both available and profitable in a market shaped by repeated weather shocks.
