The outfit, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, is forecasting the number of insured crew members will rise from 75,000 to 100,000 within a few months.

A one-third jump in the number of insured crew seems an ambitious expectation but chief executive Casper Meland says a number of developments have come together to accelerate growth.

Marine Benefits was launched to help shipowners attract and retain crew at a time when there was growing concern about a shortage of seafarers.

But