The big Zamil offshore support fleet has quit the Shipowners’ Club to move its protection-and-indemnity (P&I) cover to leading fixed-premium underwriter British Marine.

The Saudi Arabian owner has a fleet of about 70 vessels and is a major provider of offshore services to state oil company Saudi Aramco.

The move is attracting attention in the P&I market as it follows a high-profile run-in between the Shipowners’ Club and Saudi Aramco a year ago, as reported by TradeWinds at the time.

Zamil, with a fleet of modern anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) units up to 8,150 bhp, supplies vessels and various maintenance and utility ships, had a new year rather than 20 February renewal, so is already insured by British Marine, a former P&I club that demutualised in 2000 and is now part of the Australian QBE insurance empire.

The Shipowners’ Club faced blacklisting by Saudi Aramco a year ago over two unresolved well head collision damage claims involving Intermarine’s 5,750-bhp Intersand (built 1975) and Maridive’s 4,256-bhp Maridive 43 (built 2010) dating back to 2011 and 2012.

Former Shipowners’ Club chief executive Charles Hume personally intervened and was able to get the threat lifted — but at a total cost other clubs that shared in the pooled claim put at $135m.

It looked at the time that the matter had been resolved and Saudi Aramco’s threat to no longer accept Shipowners’ Club insured tonnage had been overcome.

But Intermarine moved to British Marine and Maridive to Gard last year and now the bigger Zamil operation has also sailed away.

There are also market rumours of Saudi Aramco’s own offshore support fleet being on the move at the P&I renewals but TradeWinds understands this is incorrect. The offshore operation is believed to be largely self-insured or covered through Stellar Insurance, the oil company’s captive operation.

It is unclear to what extent the Intersand and Maridive 43 disputes have been a factor influencing Saudi Aramco’s contractors.

Other issues such as premium pricing in an offshore market squeezed by a collapse in crude prices and claims records may have been a bigger challenge.

There is also the general background of attempts to make offshore contractors take on more liabilities, challenging the traditional “knock-for-knock” terms of this sector, where each party covers its own loss.

Meanwhile, competition to win a series of chemical carrier newbuildings on order for Oman Shipping appears to have been resolved in favour of the UK Club.

The state-owned fleet of more than 40 vessels including ore carriers of more than 400,000 dwt, tankers up to 320,000 dwt and LNG carriers of up to 162,000 cbm, splits its P&I cover between the UK and North of England mutuals.

Both clubs are competing for eight 50,000-dwt chemical and products tankers on order from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in South Korea for delivery this year.

There is free competition between the International Group P&I clubs for newbuildings in contrast to a no undercutting price fixing agreement for existing tonnage.

The word in the market is that the UK Club is to get the newbuildings as they are delivered on the basis of keener terms.