History of the Club
The early history of the Shipowners' P&I Club is bound up in the history of its creators, the Holman family of Topsham, Devon.
The family itself had not been connected with the sea until
Thomas Holman (1771-1822) became a Master Mariner. Thomas was the
father of John Bagwell Holman (1800-1863) who followed a maritime
career. Unlike his father, he left the sea not only with a
professional title, but also as the owner of a number of ships.
Ashore, he enlarged his shipping interests both as a vessel owner
and a shipbuilder, building not only his own vessels but also ships
for other local owners.
John Holman turned his attention to the management of his fleet
and in particular to the cost of hull insurance which, at the time,
was very expensive, due to the lack of competition. He set up one
of the first so-called 'hull Clubs', to undertake the insurance of
hull risks on a non-profit-making basis.
Sailing ships were still the preferred method of transport
up to the 1880s when steamships started to make their presence
felt.
The popularity of hull Clubs started to decline in the 1840s due
to greater competition from Lloyd's. While Lloyd's underwriters
were willing to write hull risks competitively, they were not
prepared to cover the new third party liabilities of vessel owners,
which were accumulating.
John Holman decided to fill the gap with his own creation - The
Shipowners' Protection Association, the forerunner of the current
Shipowners' Club, which he formed in 1855 under the management of
John Holman & Sons.
The first decade of the Association's existence was a period of
expansion, with vessels joining from much further afield than
Devon. Small coastal craft were entered alongside seagoing
windjammers, and Thames and Medway sailing barges. This was a time
of rapid change in the shipping industry and steamships were now
very much in evidence.
In 1866, following a judgement where a vessel owner was held
liable for the loss of cargo carried on board his vessel, the
Association changed its rules to include cover of liabilities for
loss and damage to cargo so that the Member could be indemnified
for his loss. In this way, the word 'indemnity' was added to the
company's title, and the acronym 'P&I' was added to the
maritime lexicon.
Sail gave way to steam, and as the membership in this category
grew, it became obvious that the demands made on the Association by
steamship owners were different from those made by owners of
traditional craft. Although the shipping community was divided
about the long-term viability of steam, John Holman & Sons
decided that the future was in steam and in 1870 decided to launch
The West of England Steamship Owners Protection & Indemnity
Association Ltd. This was another mutual but dedicated entirely to
the insurance of third party liabilities for vessels powered by
steam.
In 1873 John Holman & Sons moved both the Shipowners' and
West of England Clubs, together with the management, to Lime Street
in the City of London. The Shipowners' Club added many east coast
fishing vessels, as well as sailing barges and small coastal craft.
By 1900, it boasted 500 Members, some of whom were, for the first
time in the Club's history, from the continent of Europe.
Back row: F.E. Fromings, H. Cobley, A. Capps, I.P. Jenner,
Fry, W.A. Horsewell, C.H. Walton, E. Graves, Hodges. Centre
row: T. Helmore, P.W. Kennedy, F. Death, T. Heddon, Capt.A. Holman,
J.H. Heddon, F.T. Dyke, Sparrow. Front row: R.H. Roberts, H.A.
Prince, Day, Lawrence, A. Helmore, F. Harding, R.
Walters. Photograph by: A.C. Carpenter taken at The Highrocks,
Tunbridge Wells, 18 April 1899.
At the end of the 1939-45 war, the membership of the Shipowners'
Club was depleted but the Club was still a major player in covering
small craft including coasters, fishing vessels and even sailing
barges, which were still in evidence.
Nevertheless, during the 1950s and early 1960s, the membership
of the Club began to stagnate with growth limited to the expansion
of existing Members. There was in fact negligible growth in tonnage
for several years. At 20th February 1964 there were 272 entered
vessels making up 96,866 tons, but one Member had over a quarter of
the entered vessels and over half the entered tonnage. The Board
took the decision to revive and expand the Shipowners' Club from
under the shadow of the West of England which had developed much
more strongly in the meantime. So it was that a new era of the
Shipowners' Club began with the appointment of a new manager of the
Club who travelled extensively to advertise the benefits of P&I
to small and specialist vessel owners.
By 1970 the Club's tonnage had grown to one million tons from 35
different countries.
The 1970's were uncertain times for British companies with an
international clientele, and exchange control regulations hampered
the Club in its dealings involving the settlement of claims outside
the UK, especially with a large proportion of membership being
domiciled abroad. The Shipowners' Board of Directors therefore
decided to move the Club's domicile, creating The Shipowners Mutual
Protection and Indemnity Association (Luxembourg) in Luxembourg and
reinsurance subsidiaries in Luxembourg and in Bermuda.
By 1980 the Club had 1,170 Members in 68 countries, operating
7,700 vessels of 2.4 million GT with a premium income of nearly
US$9 million.
In 1982 it was recognised that the Club needed its own
management team dedicated to the needs of a specialist insurer. The
separate management team began underwriting from new premises from
20th February 1983 and in 1986 a wholly owned subsidiary of the
Club, The Shipowners' Protection Limited, was created as its
management company.
Having been outgrown by the West of England Club, and for much
of its history jointly managed with the West of England Club it was
natural that it should also have been reinsured by the West of
England Club and it was through that reinsurance over many years
that the Shipowners' Club was able to access the International
Group Pool. The separation of the management led to that
reinsurance ceasing in 1987 when it was transferred to the
Steamship Mutual Club.
In 1998 the Shipowners' Club applied to become a direct party to
the International Group Pooling Agreement and since 20th February
1999 has been a full member of the Pool.
On 31st May 2007 the Club acquired Waterborne Underwriting
Services Ltd, an underwriting agency based in Vancouver.
On 27th April 2009, the Club opened its Asian office,
located in Singapore to service Members and their brokers in
Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
On 21st December 2009, the Club was established as an
approved liability insurer in Canada.
On 1st July 2010, Waterborne Underwriting Services Ltd changed
its name to Shipowners' North America Protection Ltd.
In its 156th year, the Shipowners' Club now has 6,133 Members,
28,227 vessels and 16,583,572 GT. There are just under 100
staff across the four offices.