Phillips Fox

JOHN Farquharson, transport and trade partner and commercial insurance group leader at the Perth office of Phillips Fox, has been appointed president of the Maritime Law Association of Australia and New Zealand. The association has more than 500 members from around the world including lawyers, judges, academics, major exporters, shipowners, insurers, brokers, surveyors and seafarers.

Derek Luxford, transport and trade partner at the firm’s Sydney office, has been elected as chairman of the Maritime/Land Transport Committee of the International Bar Association. Luxford is the first Australian to hold the chair of this committee.

Healy & Baillie

THE New York office of Healy & Baillie has relocated to lower Manhattan. Its new address is:

61 Broadway
32nd Floor
New York NY 10006-2701

The telephone and fax numbers and e-mail addresses remain the same.

Orion & Global

MARITIME arbitrator Lloyd Nelson has been appointed chairman of Orion & Global Chartering Co Inc, New York.

North of England P&I

TONY Allen has taken over management of the North of England P&I club’s office in Greece. He replaces Mike Salthouse who set up the office three years ago and who has now returned to the club’s headquarters in the UK as a Greek area director. Allen formerly worked in Piraeus with Norton Rose and originally trained with Simmons and Simmons. He is supported in Greece by Helen Yiacoumis, who originally trained and worked as a solicitor for four years with Holman, Fenwick & Willan, including a period in the Piraeus office.

Further additions to the club’s legal team include Charles Baker, who joins the freight, demurrage and defence department from Lawrence Graham, where he was a partner. Another new member of the department, Antigone Yanniotis of New York firm Lyons Skoufalos, is to join the Piraeus office early this year. Back in London, Frank Sanford, formerly of Richards Butler, has joined as a senior claims executive.
www.nepia.com

Barlow Lyde & Gilbert

TIM Taylor and Patrick Foss, formerly of Hill Taylor Dickinson, have joined the shipping and marine insurance division of Barlow Lyde and Gilbert. The move was announced in May last year, but only took place in November. Nigel Wagland, head of the shipping team at BLG, said “This is a long sought after development for BLG. The move will have an immediate impact upon our market presence, and consolidate BLG’s position as a major player in marine and energy insurance and reinsurance.”

BIMCO

BIMCO has elected C C Tung as its new president. In his inaugural address, Tung called for a closer and more constructive dialogue between shipping interests and governments to ensure that regulation reflects reality.
www.bimco.dk

IMO

THE International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has announced two senior level appointments following on from the election of Efthimios Mitropolous as secretary general. Mitropoulos was previously director of the maritime safety department, and this role is now filled by Koji Sekimizu of Japan, who moves across from the marine environment division. Jean-Claude Sainlos of France steps up to become director of the Marine Environment Division. “I am confident that Mr Sekimizu and Mr Sainlos will respond successfully to the expectations of all parties concerned and will serve well the cause of enhanced safety, security and environmental protection,” says Mitropoulos.

Waterson Hicks

TIM Baker has joined the maritime and commercial law partnership of London law firm Waterson Hicks.
l...@waterson-hicks.com

SMA

SAD news from New York, with the peaceful passing away after a short illness, at the age of 77, of John P Besman, founding father and a former president of the Society of Maritime Arbitrators.

John joined Louis Dreyfus et Cie, Paris in the shipping division in 1947, and went on to work in their offices in Paris, Genoa, London and New York. At the summit of his career, he was in charge of all commercial activities of the Louis-Dreyfus shipping divisions as well as developing outside contracts for the company. He retired in 1983.

John helped found FONASBA, having previously served as president of the Association of Ship Brokers and Agents (USA). He served as president of FONASBA and chairman of its Chartering & Documentary Committee, in which capacity he was instrumental in developing many charterparty changes, and the creation of the now generally used NORGRAIN charter party.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre (www.mskcc.org) or to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (www.ushmm.org).

Uría & Menendez

EDUARDO Rodríguez-Rovira is the new head of Uría & Menendez’s Latin America practice group. He joined Uría & Menéndez in 1990, became a partner in 2000, and headed the Buenos Aires office of the firm between March 2001 and September 2003. According to Uría & Menendez it is the only Spanish firm which currently has its own lawyers, including at least one senior lawyer, permanently based in the five key jurisdictions of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru.
www.smany.org

IUA

HARALD Schenk, chief representative of Hannover Re London, has joined the board of the International Underwriting Association of London (IUA). He has been head of Hannover’s London operation since 1991.