Small and specialist mutual P&I provider The Shipowners' Club is now actively encouraging vessels up to 20,000 gt to enter its fleet.

While the club previously had no fixed upper limit on vessel size, only a very small percentage of its fleet was over 12,000 gt. Now, as small ships are getting bigger, the club is "actively encouraging vessels up to 20,000 gt."

The average size of an entered vessel has more than doubled in 20 years, from 297 gt to 672 gt while the club's number of insured vessels has almost tripled to over 33,000.

Over the same period the average size of coastal tankers has increased by 90%; dry cargo vessels by 50%, offshore vessels by 50% and dumb barges by 269%.

“It is definitely the case that larger vessels are more likely to generate larger claims,” underwriting director Ian Edwards states in a blog post. “But as a result of the club’s long and in-depth experience of insuring these specialist vessels, we also believe that larger vessels, as long as they are well run and operate a well defined regional trading pattern, represent as good a risk as some smaller vessels. We are more than happy to consider regionally trading vessels up to 20,000 gt for entry with the club.

“Our largest offshore vessels have regularly been in excess of 10,000GT for many years, likewise the larger dredgers. We will always try to provide the cover that our Members need for the vessels they acquire if their trading fits with the overall profile of the Club’s varied sectors,” added Edwards.