Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, the UK based operator of four medium sized ships,  could start asking agents for a bond or other financial security if it cannot secure credit insurance to cover the risk of doing business with them, Travel Weekly reports on its website.

The operator says it wants to take a collaborative approach with the trade and that it is in talks with agent partners about how it can manage financial risk. The move mirrors similar changes Complete Cruise Solution(CCS) has made to the way it works with agents. CCS, which is part of the Carnival UK group, does not have credit insurance for agents.

Fred Olsen said it was looking to secure credit insurance to protect itself against agency failure but that this was “becoming increasingly difficult”. The current economic climate means many insurance limits are being reduced or removed, it said. Nathan Philpot, sales and marketing director for Fred Olsen, said it has credit insurance secured for 80% of agents but the remainder still posed a substantial potential risk. “This has got to be a dialogue, not a one-size-fits-all solution. We started conversations before Christmas, it would be great if we could have something in place by the end of January,” he was quoted by Travel Weekly as saying.