Shipping's largest protection and indemnity insurer, Gard, has been hit by a $23m net post-tax loss in the first six months of the policy year.

The profit and loss figures include Gard's mutual P&I business and its other marine and energy insurance lines.

The deficit contributed to an overall reduction in its free reserves, from $1.263bn at the start of the policy year in February, to $1.226bn.

Earnings were helped by a $30.4m investment return.

Despite the deficit, Gard said it would continue to give mutual members a 5% general owners discount in 2022.

Gard is the most financially robust of the 13 International Group of P&I Club members, which share claims of more than $10m in a pooling system.

But its half-year figures show that even it has been hard hit by two consecutive years of high International Group pool claims.

The club has also been affected by a rise in its own retained claims, and crew claims related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chief executive Rolf Thore Roppestad said Gard would be seeking an overall increase in premium income at the policy renewal in February to address its underwriting deficit.

However, it will not apply a general increase uniformly to all members. Instead, members will be assessed on their claims record and risk profile.

"After a long period of a benign claims experience and corresponding reduction in premium levels, the last years have seen an increase in the severity of claims. This has been accompanied by a stagnation in the reduction in claims frequency," Roppestad said in a circular to members.

"Although Gard has a high-quality membership, premium adjustments will have to be applied to maintain predictability and relative stability in the portfolio."

Despite the negative six-month result and the difficult claims environment, S&P Global Ratings has reaffirmed Gard's A+ rating.