1.1 A system of maritime loans apparently existed in the ancient civilisations of Babylon,2 Phoenicia, Greece3 and Rome,4 but marine insurance, as such, originated in Genoa where research has recently established that a cargo policy was underwritten on 18 March 1343, some three years earlier than was previously thought to be the case.5 This first policy insured 10 bales of cloth for a voyage from Porto Pisano to an unnamed Sicilian port, but history does not record whether any claim arose for loss of or damage to the cargo.6 In the fourteenth century, this system of marine insurance was practiced in all the Italian city states,7 from where the word “policy” or, in Italian “police”, meaning loan,8 originated, and it was there that marine insurance first gained statutory recognition.9