The hull insurance market is beginning to harden after years of rock-bottom premiums, according to a top underwriter of marine business.

The Norwegian Hull Club (NHC) is winning rate increases, with chief executive Hans Christian Seim declaring the market to have turned at last.

Seim, who is seeing rivals seeking increases, suggests hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, which caused up to $200bn-worth of damage in the Caribbean and to the US Gulf coast, were the final straw for many underwriters.