As Data Centers Boom, Construction and Operational Risks Rise

If you ask Ami Bahia, Governance, Risk & Compliance Director at Starr, what makes governance, risk and compliance interesting, you won’t get a technical answer. Instead, you’ll get a practical one: it’s about enabling teams to achieve their commercial objectives, while maintaining the fundamental principles that ensure the firm maintains that allow the business to operate with confidence.

The rise of the dark fleet is less about individual vessels and more about the risks it creates across the wider market. Trade fragmentation, ageing fleets and increased regulatory scrutiny are all adding complexity to underwriting and claims. Darren Stewart, Marine Claims, explores what sits outside the insurance market is now influencing it in very real ways.

Starr’s new Bermuda reinsurer, IQUW Re Bermuda Limited, today announced that global credit rating AM Best has upgraded its Financial Strength Rating to A (Excellent) and its long-term issuer credit to a+ (Excellent). The outlook for both credit ratings is positive.

Starr, a global investment and insurance organization, today announced that it has completed its acquisition of IQUW Group, creating a broader, more diversified specialty (re)insurance platform with enhanced capabilities across the London market, Bermuda and UK retail motor.

As data centers look for greater power resilience and operational flexibility, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are being implemented in many projects currently under construction, most often those using lithium-ion cells. These systems can improve reliability and drive cost savings, but they also introduce new, complex hazards including the risk of thermal runaway. In a thermal runaway event, a battery cell’s temperature escalates uncontrollably, quickly spreading heat and potentially causing fire, toxic gas release, or even explosions. A single failure in a densely packed data center environment can put the whole facility at risk.

Data center development is expanding into rural locations driven by lower land costs and access to renewable energy, requiring construction teams to address challenges around workforce availability. An inability to properly staff projects with a specialized & skilled labor force can harm project schedules and increase costs, with direct implications for Builders Risk insurance.