Has the time come for a fundamental overhaul of the governance of the protection-and-indemnity (P&I) clubs? That would be a legitimate conclusion of the run-up to this year’s renewal season, which is seeing unprecedented criticism by brokers of the way mutuals are ratcheting up premiums.

As we report this week in our P&I Business Focus (see pages 35 to 47), clubs appear set on pushing through general increases despite the crippling state of physical shipping markets for many shipowners, and in the face of clubs’ own reserves reaching record highs.

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