2026 Renewal and Open Policy Years At their meeting in Tokyo on 25 November 2025, the Association’s Board of Directors reviewed open policy years and decided on the 2026 renewal.     1. Introduction   With the continued support of the Members, as of 31 October 2025, the Association's total entered fleet comprised 3,537 vessels, aggregating 85.0 million gross tons across Owners’ Entries and Naiko Class (Japanese Coastal Vessels) Entries.   The Association dedicates significant effort to enhancing underwriting results and establishing a resilient financial foundation. The result of this effort was that, at the end of the 2024 business year, the Association had increased the reserve fund to JPY41.1 billion. Consequently, our credit rating by S&P Global Ratings was upgraded to "BBB+ (Outlook: Stable)."   Turning to the business environment surrounding the Association, it is anticipated that the upward trend in claim payments will be sustained, driven by the impact of global inflation. Furthermore, reinsurance premiums are expected to remain at a high level due to the prolongation of geopolitical risks, such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the situation in the Middle East.   Moreover, there is an increasing burden on the Association related to the continued occurrence of pool claims from other P&I Clubs, claims which are shared between all the Clubs in the International Group. Coupled with this, there is a continuous impact of the so-called "churn effect", where the overall premium volume shrinks as older vessels with relatively high premiums are withdrawn (e.g., sale), while newly entered vessels enter at lower premium levels.   Although underwriting results are improving as a result of the measures we have taken, the Association has considered the afore-mentioned business environment and believes that a further overall increase in premiums is essential to continue providing stable underwriting services to Members. The Associatio