The Field February 2019. Credit to: Xmentoys / Shutterstock.com Vessels and units operating offshore often have many people other than their core crew on board at any given time. This can lead to confusion in relation to where liability for these additional personnel rests and how they are treated under the relevant P&I cover. This article looks at typical crewing arrangements on board offshore vessels and units, offers some thoughts on how the P&I covers can respond, and some advice and tips on avoiding common contractual pitfalls in this area. When accidents happen When accidents happen offshore, due to the many parties often involved, there can often be confusion on things such as who takes control of managing the incident, which party picks up the bill for any treatment, and, if a claim is raised, against which party it should be directed. By way of example, let's imagine a welder is injured during an operation on a drilling unit. The welder is employed by a subcontractor of the drilling unit operator, but raises a compensation claim in tort against the operator. However, there is (as there should be in terms of cover) a knock-for-knock [KFK] contract in place, under which the operator and the welder's employers have agreed that each will be responsible for claims from their own employees, regardless of fault. In these circumstances, who deals with the welder's claim? But what if there wasn't a KFK contract in place? What impact would that have on the assured's P&I cover, and how would it respond? Typical crewing arrangements There are significant differences between offshore crew and traditional shipping crew in relation to how the employment relationship is set up. There are also differences between the way offshore shipping and drilling crews are composed. Therefore, when dealing with the financial aspects of a crew claim, one of the first tasks for both the insurer and the assured is to understand upon which party responsibility rests. Marine cre