When Stuart Edmonston took over from Karl Lumbers as loss prevention director at the UK P&I Club in 2015, he had big shoes to fill.

Lumbers was regarded as the guru in the field, and the UK P&I had long been ­associated with a strong loss prevention team.

Edmonston, 44, had all the right credentials. A former master mariner, he came ashore in 2006 after 14 years at sea and was taken on by London law firm HFW as a casualty investigator.