North of England P&I club opens Singapore office

Singapore: The North of England P&I club celebrated the opening of its new office in Singapore's Fuji Xerox Towers last week. Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) ceo Brigadier General Tay Lim Heng (pictured right) warmly welcomed the club to the island nation and highlighted the initiatives put in place by the authorities to encourage maritime business and promote the island as the main maritime hub in the Asia-Pacific region.

Although the 'A' rated, 75m gt club has insured ships from Singapore for over 24 years, the new office cements it's commitment to the region. Rodney Eccleston (pictured left), North of England md said, 'I am delighted to see the growing influx of members from India, Japan, the Middle East and Europe who have all chosen to set up and operate out of Singapore. Remarkably, the current entry from the island now stands at 8m gt and 217 ships, which is more than 10% of our entered tonnage and a testament to the tremendous support from our members in Singapore.'    

The new office will be managed by claims specialist and master mariner Iain Beange and assisted by FD&D lawyer Chris Metcalf and administrator Elizabeth Er. A local claims executive is currently being recruited to augment the team.   
 
North of England insures a fleet of 3000 ships entered by 310 member groups from around the world. Owned tonnage is currently 58m gt and chartered tonnage accounts for around 17m gt.  [13/09/07]