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Intermediary September 2006
ITIC News
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Thomas Miller Australia
The Sydney office was the first overseas office set up by Thomas Miller,
and was established 30 years ago. The office has 8 staff and is located
in the city, overlooking the Queen Victoria Building. TM(A) handles claims
for over 130 Australian ITIC members. Membership in Australia comprises
both marine and non-marine and include liner and tramp agencies, naval
architects, marine surveyors, S&P and chartering brokers and ship
managers.
The office is headed by Marcus John, who is a qualified lawyer who practised law in London and Sydney before joining Thomas Miler in 1995. He and Iain Sharples, who joined the London office of Thomas Miller in the same year, have extensive experience in claims work for the UK P&I Club,TT Club and ITIC.They are assisted by Alison Cook who is well on the way to finishing her legal studies, completing her law degree next year. She joined Thomas Miller London in 2000 and returned home to Sydney in 2003.
In addition, the office is well experienced in advising on contracts, bills of lading, transport contracts, charterparties, disclaimers, standard terms and conditions, and the office has an active involvement in industry associations, particularly Shipping Australia Ltd.
ITIC members in Australia should report all new claims to the Sydney office, the address and contact details of which are PO Box Q697, Queen Victoria Building, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia. Tel: +61 2 8262 5800. Fax: +61 2 8262 5858. E-mail: sydney.itic@thomasmiller.com
Tony Payne – a career in shipping
Tony Payne has always been adaptable and enthusiastic for whatever task he was pitched into.That is certainly why he succeeded in the world of shipping, which he left upon his retirement as managing director ITIM on 31st March 2006.
Tony
joined ITIM, and its predecessor TIM, from the outset, helping to shape
it into one of the most successful organisations in the sector. However,
he started his professional life as a management trainee for Port Line,
a British shipping company, which made him work his passage to Australia
where he worked in the Sydney office, before becoming a jackaroo in Queensland.
After a few months he returned to Port Line's offices where he was introduced to the intricate world of bills of lading inwards prior to spending a few more months dealing with bills of lading outwards. However, after eight months or so, Tony was beginning to get restless and accepted a job in Singapore. So began his entry into the world of ship agents. He was placed in charge of service to "sundry ships" that were usually making a bunkering call after weeks at sea serving China or South America.
While in Singapore, incidentally, there was a brief foray into modelling when Tony appeared in a cinema advertisement for Tiger Beer after being recommended by a colleague.
Subsequently he accepted a job as a deputy office manager for Gellatly Hankey in Saudi Arabia. He found that the firm was a Lloyd's agent, ship agent and agent for other businesses including the Australian Wheat Board, BMW and Sony.
Settled in Jeddah,Tony welcomed many visitors, one of whom was a leading London surveyor who asked what he knew of Greece. Behind the question was the search by Miller Insurance for someone to take over management of its Piraeus office, which was a Lloyd's agent and correspondent for UK P&I Club.That conversation led to Tony leaving his Saudi job for Piraeus in 1974, where he was to stay until 1985. Being so close to Greek shipping for 11 years was "very helpful".
In the early 1980s Thomas Miller decided to launch the first industry mutual since it formed the Through Transport Club.The new body went by the name of Transport Intermediaries Mutual, (or TIM), and Tony was invited to be general manager. Back he went to London for TIM, which then had a premium income of $1m or less and fewer than 100 members.
TIM was launched in favourable conditions and was doing well in competition with the mutual that had been in the same field for half a century, CISBA, (the Chartered and International Shipbrokers' P&I Association) managed by Tindall Riley. In 1992 it was decided the two should merge, which produced the newly named ITIC with 900 members and premium income of $12m.Today the Club has nearly 1,800 members and has a premium income of $35m.
It has proved a total success story in the mutual field. ITIC prides itself in having an excellent working relationship with the members, supported by its policy of giving staff the dual role of underwriting and claims and Tony played a key role in this development, having contributed to, and lead, the development of your Club.We wish him well in his retirement.