In insurance, there’s no room for shortcuts – transparency is the foundation of everything

• 08.12.2025.
• News, Management

Marijan Dželalija from GrECo Marine Insurance has been working with yacht charter companies for years and knows very well the everyday challenges the nautical industry faces. In a conversation with čarter.hr he shared his experience, the way he looks at insurance in the nautical sector and how he views the challenges yacht charter companies face when the season begins.

Marijan Dželalija is a well-known name in insurance, with many years of experience specifically in marine insurance and cooperation with numerous yacht charter companies. He now brings that experience to GrECo Marine Insurance (GMI) – a specialized segment of the GrECo Group dedicated exclusively to vessels and nautical services – as the new General Manager for GMI in Croatia.

Thanks to that experience and the strong international network of the GrECo Group, the GMI office in Poreč is developing insurance programs tailored for yacht charter companies, fleets, superyachts, and more complex risks.
The goal is simple: to offer insurance that truly fits the day-to-day operations of yacht charter companies, regardless of the size or type of fleet.

Below is a conversation with Marijan on how he sees marine insurance today and what, in his experience, is essential for yacht charter companies preparing for a new season.

Marijan, after years of working in marine insurance you decided to take a new step and take over the management of GrECo Marine Insurance. What motivated you to make this change and do you now have more room to do things differently than before?

After more than 15 years in the nautical insurance market the time came for a step forward. The main guiding thought was the possibility of expanding and developing the business focused primarily on finding alternative insurance solutions or, as we would say, better policies for our users.
The local market is quite small and I believe that through internationalisation and by finding solutions in foreign markets we can offer our boaters, yacht charters and all vessel owners an even better solution for vessel insurance and skipper insurance.

What values guide you in your work and what keeps you in this industry which is fast, demanding and exposed to pressure both during the season and throughout the entire year?

The main value we strive to uphold is transparency!
When arranging insurance policies we put great effort into explaining the terms to our clients, meaning what is and what is not covered by each insurance policy.
Support for our clients after arranging the policy and in the event of a loss is crucial. This industry is “addictive”, no matter how challenging and difficult it sometimes is, the dynamics of the market and the people in it are the reason why we are all here and why it is hard to step away from it. We are of course talking about the nautical industry. :)

GrECo Marine Insurance (GMI) is designed as a Managing General Agent. What does this specifically mean for yacht charters and their vessels?

Managing General Agent is a definition that comes from the London Lloyd’s market and briefly describes an insurance agency that provides clients with a full service, from arranging policies to claims handling and support, and delivers a complete product to insurers. This brings speed and quality to the process of arranging policies for our clients.

In your opinion, where is the biggest difference seen between the average broker approach and what GMI offers?

Our expert team is dedicated exclusively to nautical insurance. In the team we have specialists who have completed Lloyd’s Academy and graduated from the Postgraduate Study in Marine Insurance, people with experience in claims handling, straightforward and approachable individuals who provide support to clients as well as partners in all situations.
Our knowledge and experience are our most important advantages.

Are there any specific risks related exclusively to yacht charter fleets that are still underestimated in the industry?

Lately there has been a lot of discussion about the issue of loss of income in yacht charter, the so-called charter loss insurance.
I see room here for us to jointly find an adequate solution that protects yacht charters and vessel owners well enough, while on the other hand being sufficiently unpredictable as a risk so that it can actually be insured.

What most often happens when a yacht charter company “inherits” a poorly arranged policy from previous seasons?

Uff... There are many items that need to be taken into account. First of all, whether the policy clearly defines who the owner and the insured person are, whether the vessel has a valid navigation license, whether the condition of the vessel was clearly communicated when entering the insurance so that there are no problems during the handling of a possible claim, what the deductible amount is under the hull insurance policy, whether liability insurance is contracted with a sufficiently large risk...
These are just some of the situations that can lead to significant financial exposure for the vessel owner, the yacht charter and everyone involved.

What changes have you noticed in the behaviour of guests and skippers during the last two seasons and how does this affect risk?

Unfortunately I think we all agree in the nautical sector that the “quality” of guests in yacht charter has dropped significantly.
We are no longer talking about boaters and enthusiasts of sailing and navigation, but about new users of the tourist offer who often come on board for the first time. I believe the biggest problem is that these guests are not aware of the dangers that lurk and have no respect for the sea and nature.

Where do you see the biggest gap between the expectations of yacht charter companies and the reality of insurance?

Personally I see a great opportunity for everyone in this “gap”. With clear explanations or, as we like to say, education of all participants in this segment, we can achieve a lot.
Yacht charter companies rightly expect that almost everything will be insured for them, while on the other hand insurance coverage simply cannot cover that. An event that is predictable is difficult to insure.

How do you think the insurance market will behave if the trend of rising rental prices and stagnation in the number of guests continues?

The trend of price increases happens every few years, then we see the appearance of new insurers and an increase in capacity, a drop in insurance premiums and after a few years another increase... and so on in circles.
Ok, it is true that premiums have really dropped to very low levels over the past 10 or so years, but drastic price increases are not good either.
For yacht charters costs are rising sharply in all segments, the rental price of vessels is rising very slowly which significantly affects revenue and accordingly it is not justified that the prices of everything else rise drastically.

If you had to single out only one recommendation for yacht charter companies entering the season, what would it be?

There is a lot to say, I believe that everyone working in yacht charter knows their job and surely thinks about it a lot, in order to make the best decisions and take the best steps for the stabilisation, growth and development of the business.
What we certainly know is that quality always wins over quantity in the end, but there really is a lot of quantity. :)
The market is changing, guest habits in yacht charter are different, we are moving towards last minute booking without advance payments or with lower advance payments like in hotels... And the guests? They are paying more and more attention to how a yacht charter company conducts its business and what kind of security it offers them.
So, that would be my one recommendation. 

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