When RSA Insurance Group withdrew its support for fixed premium protection and indemnity provider Lodestar Marine late last year, few observers gave the company a chance of survival in a moribund market that was chronically overloaded with capacity.

The consensus was that Lodestar would struggle to find a new backer. RSA had cited poor profitability as the reason it removed $500m of capacity support from Lodestar — part of Ryan Specialty Group — and there were few signs the market was improving.