The insurers are ultimately driven by lower benefit payments.For many years, the marine industry has been paying claims at exorbitant rates because 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, bids are submitted at the federal government-set shipping rates by insurance underwriters in the US, Canada, and Australia. Government insurance plans insured a significant number of ships owned by shipping corporations for years, if not decades; in some circumstances, the cost of the insurance was subtracted from shipping revenues.