The insurers are ultimately driven by lower benefit payments.For decades, the marine industry has been paying claims at exorbitant rates since the federal government anticipated a significant reduction in claims. These agreements provide transportation corporations with a steady stream of private insurance payments, even though the conditions of their exchange could be seen as a type of corporate welfare. These days, insurance underwriters in the US, Canada, and Australia submit bids at the shipping rates set by the federal government. Government insurance policies protected a significant number of ships owned by shipping companies for years, if not decades; in some circumstances, the cost of the insurance was subtracted from shipping revenues.