Boat Insurance - change in terms

[Sailfree]

Just renewed my Insurance and note a change in terms.

Policy now requires that lithium batteries can only be charged in daylight hours.

Text:- "7 If Your Craft , tender or toys are fitted with Lithium Ion batteries they must be charged within daylight hours , must not be left unattended whilst being charged and they must be used in accordance with the manufacturers’ recommendations/instructions."

I note that a recent household fire that resulted in death have been attributed to charging the lithium batteries on an electric bicycle.

By implication, if batteries are only charged in daylight, the boat has people onboard to switch the charger on/off unless a clever lumen activated switch is incorporated in the charger circuit.

Wonder if many have had this change of terms or noticed it?

 

[Boathook]

That means you possibly couldn't motor at night as the engine will be charging the batteries.
Hopefully they mean whilst moored up and everyone asleep or when the boat is unattended.

Lithium batteries causing fires does seem to be increasing and it would be interesting to know whether they are a cheap ebay, etc special or a well known brand and whether the charger is the correct one for the batteries.

 

[Daverw]

Is this again a reason that the full battery type should be indicated, lithium iron or lithium iron phosphate are different beasts, as far as I’m aware the issues we keep hearing about are li-ion, used in scooters, phones, e-bikes etc not the LiFePo4 we would use

 

[Hacker]

Lithium ion not the usual LiFePo4 used as main batteries. It’s a different technology

 

[KevinV]

Not very well written - "must be charged during daylight hours.." - what if they don't need charging? I think they could have done with an "only" in there. I wonder if that would invalidate the whole clause?

 

[sailaboutvic]

They don’t say what type lithium batteries ,
arethere classing all lithium with the same brush .
maybe a call needed to find out what they mean .

 

[Rappey]

Most lithium powered items usually state never leave charging batteries unattended.
Ebay, amazon and facebook marketplace are full of fake low quality lithium batteries and why would they ban the fraudulent sellers when they make money from each sale ? Buyers beware !

 

[dunedin]

Bizarre wording re “in daylight hours” - might be tricky charging your mobile phone during a winter sail in Shetland.

 

[Koeketiene]

Lithium ion not the usual LiFePo4 used as main batteries. It’s a different technology

There have been cases in France of fires caused by lithium-ion batteries fitted on boats.
And insurance companies refusing to cover boats with such batteries.

This link from the SNSM (French RNLI equivalent) refers: Feu à bord ! Les conseils des Sauveteurs en Mer pour l'éviter | Les Sauveteurs en Mer


Courtesy fo Google translate:

A new risk: lithium-ion batteriesLithium-ion batteries – otherwise very useful and efficient – present a real risk of fires and explosions accompanied by toxic gas emissions that are particularly difficult to extinguish. Shipping electric cars is becoming a problem. The fire on the Ro-Ro Felicity Ace, between Europe and the United States, in March 2022, made an even greater impression as the boat sank with its cargo of some four thousand luxury cars! The source of the fire is not officially confirmed. On the other hand, it is commonly accepted that the presence on board of a certain number of electric vehicles and their batteries maintained the fire and prevented it from being contained. Insurers are on alert.The maritime subsidiary of Allianz has devoted an entire report to the subject. Welcoming that ship losses have halved in ten years. It is alarmed, on the contrary, to see the number of fires (all causes combined) considerably increase. At the top of the possible causes of fires that are very difficult to control, she points to lithium-ion batteries, which can start the fire by thermal runaway, overheating, explosion, or short circuit.The loss of Fabrice Amedeo's IMOCA therefore sounds the alarm for ships using or tempted to use these batteries, in particular to save weight compared to lead batteries. The IMOCA class technical committee will propose different solutions to the riders, who must vote on new safety rules. Thomas Jullien, engineer in the IMOCA class, explains to us that the idea would be not to completely ban lithium batteries. The class would like to ban heat engines, and therefore store the electricity produced by more ecological means: solar panels, tidal turbines, etc. First track: require total watertightness of the batteries themselves or of the boxes. Second track: impose “less energy dense” but more stable batteries, of the lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) type. Case to follow.


And then there's also this: Insurance refusals on lithium-ion boats - Marine Industry News

Again, lithium-ion.

I guess your insurance might not make a distinction between lithium-ion and LiFePO4

 

[sailaboutvic]

I guess your insurance might not make a distinction between lithium-ion and LiFePO4

This is where the problems stands ,
insurance company that don’t understand.
when I build my bank over two year ago I ask Pants what they policy was , they told me in an email there have no objection as long as they are fittered to manufacture spect .

 

[Graham376]

The battery in our 4G mobile internet router decided to self destruct a couple of weeks ago. Quite a loud bang and on inspection the battery was about twice it's normal thickness and very hot but fortunately no fire. Have already decided to only charge anything battery powered during awake hours and new router is switched off at night whereas the old one was left on 24/7.