The Britannia Group has appointed former Euronav general counsel Egied Verbeeck as the new chairman of the world’s oldest protection and indemnity club from 2025.

Verbeeck takes over from Anthony Firmin, who retires at the end of the year after five years in the chair, the group said.

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Verbeeck has been a director at Britannia since 2018 and was a member of the management board of Euronav until May last year.

He left during the wrangle for control of the Belgian tanker giant between rival groups headed by John Fredriksen and the Saverys family.

“I am looking forward to supporting management in the further growth of the club and continuing to provide excellent service to all our members in a challenging environment,” Verbeeck said.

Verbeeck had been at Euronav since 2006 and was instrumental in building the company into the largest crude tanker platform in the world through multiple corporate transactions, the company said on his departure.

Firmin said: “I am very happy to be passing my role as Britannia Group chair on to such a strong successor as Egied.”

The group comprises the P&I Club and two Bermuda-based reinsurers.

The challenging environment cited by Verbeeck is highlighted by a spike in large claims across the 12-strong International Group of P&I Clubs.

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is expected to result in the largest-ever maritime claim. It was hit by the 9,962-teu container ship Dali (built 2015) in March.

Britannia is the P&I insurer for the Dali and its owners are seeking to limit their liabilities to $44m through the Maryland courts.

If unsuccessful, the club, the International Group and its reinsurers face large potential payouts with insured costs estimated to run to billions of dollars.

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