North P&I Club has made a number of appointments for its underwriting function, encompassing the Europe/Mediterranean, India/Middle East, and Southeast Asia markets.
Thya Kathiravel has taken up the position of chief underwriting officer for North and Sunderland Marine, based in Newcastle, since June 01, a statement from North P&I said. He succeeded Savraj Mehta, who was appointed as chief commercial officer, a new position based in the company’s London office. Mehta will continue to work closely with the insurer’s underwriters based in Greece, the Middle East, India, and Europe.
As chief underwriting officer, Kathiravel will oversee the company’s mutual P&I book and work on the development of fixed premium product lines under the Sunderland Marine brand. Assisting him will be Steve Rebair and Simon Main, both recently appointed as deputy global directors (underwriting).
According to North, it has already seen the benefits of its diversification strategy as a result of the merger with Sunderland Marine. With the launch of a new fixed premium P&I product earlier this month, Brian Davies has been appointed to the position of director (London) and he will report to Kathiravel.
The company also revealed several appointments on the mutual side of its business. Emma Liddell and Mike Hustler are both appointed as director (underwriting) in the Asia-Pacific region, which provides 35% of the insurer’s entered tonnage. Liddell joined North in 1994 and spent several years handling P&I claims before joining the underwriting department in the UK. She will continue to be based in Newcastle.
Meanwhile, Hustler recently relocated to North P&I’s Singapore office, where he will be establishing its regional underwriting authority from that office, the company said. He will be supported in Asia-Pacific by Sumito Dosaka, who joined North P&I as senior executive (marketing) in Japan. Before joining North, Dosaka was as an underwriter at another P&I club in Japan for 23 years.
Sanchit Dutta was appointed as a director (underwriting) for the Middle East and Indian regions. He is a master mariner that has served on various types of vessels. He joined North P&I’s underwriting department in 2009.
Phil Eccleston has been appointed as director (underwriting) and will be based in Newcastle, supporting North P&I’s Greek market, which makes up 20% of the club.
Nick Wolfe, meanwhile, joined the company’s underwriting team from a major brokerage based in Singapore. He will relocate to the UK in 2020, the company said.
