A container of green coffee travels for weeks by sea and inland transport before reaching Oman, the UAE or another Gulf port, and standard Incoterms do not always make clear which party is responsible for insuring the cargo at each stage. Buyers who assume the shipping line or the seller has covered losses in full are sometimes surprised to learn that basic liability cover falls well short of the coffee’s actual value.
Atlas confirms who is responsible for cargo insurance under the agreed Incoterm before shipment, and recommends buyers insure at the coffee’s full commercial value — not just the invoice amount — since a partial loss from wetting, contamination or container damage is settled against the insured value, not the replacement cost. Ask for the insurance certificate, the named clauses (such as Institute Cargo Clauses A, B or C) and the claims process in writing before the goods are loaded, not after a problem is discovered at the port.