Hugh Bryant

Hugh Bryant is an experienced former P&I club manager and maritime lawyer with a successful track record in delivering innovative and durable insurance solutions.

Educated at Oriel College Oxford, where he was an Exhibitioner in Classics, he first worked at Thos. R. Miller as a claims adjuster at UK Club P&I, at the time the largest P&I Mutual. He then moved to Liverpool where he worked successfully through the 1980s re-launching and building up Liverpool & London P & I, which became the insurer of choice as the smaller, better club for larger, higher-quality shipowners.

After leaving Liverpool in 1990 for legal practice in the City of London, Hugh Bryant conceived an insurance solution to the ‘train wreck’ threatening shipborne trade into and out of the USA as a result of the requirements for Certificates of Financial Responsibility (‘COFRs’) for oil pollution for practically all ships trading in US waters imposed by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. The then existing P & I and general marine insurance market had declared themselves unable to provide the required coverage.

Working with Julian Wade and two US colleagues, Hugh created Shoreline Limited (shoreline.bm), which is now the largest marine mutual insurer (by entered tonnage) in the world, and is one of the two leading independent providers of COFRs, covering a third of the ships trading in US waters, of all nationalities.

In private legal practice in the City of London, Hugh advised Shetland Islands Council in relation to the "BRAER" oil spill in 1993, and was a member of the British Maritime Law Association delegation to the Comité Maritime International. He is a solicitor (now non-practising).