. Marine insurance Contact between ICS and London marine underwriters has continued during the year. Informal meetings of the Insurance Committee and the London market Joint Hull Committee (JHC) take place on a six-monthly basis and ICS representatives are invited to attend JHC meetings as appropriate. The hull market has remained soft during the year, but the JHC has been active in developing a number of new initiatives. Foremost among these were guidelines for dealing with ISM Code claims and a questionnaire and clause regarding the Year 2000 problem. ICS representatives continue to press the need for close consultation with owners. In an international context, ICS has maintained its links with the International Union of Marine Insurance, and the Secretary General was a panellist at the IUMI Conference in September 1998 in Lisbon. .