Former SCMA director launches new maritime consultancy

Lee Wai Pong, the former executive director of the Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration (SCMA), has set up a new maritime and dispute resolution consultancy, LWP Sg Consultants.

Based in Singapore, Wai Pong has received two appointments through the new consultancy, both of which will start next month (April 2016)

It will be regional advisor to Thomas Miller (SEA) Pte, which manages and looks after the interests of the UK P&I Club, UK Defence Club and other Thomas Miller managed businesses in South East Asia, as well as consultant to the Singapore Mediation Centre to promote awareness and adoption of mediation in the maritime sector.

Wai Pong is a well-known figure in the Singapore maritime, insurance and legal communities. He is a fellow of both the Chartered and the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators. He is also a fellow of Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, a Master Mariner, a retired Commanding Officer (Reservist) from the Republic of Singapore Navy, an accredited Associate Mediator of the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) and a member of Panel of Experts at the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC)

Hugo Wynn-Williams, chairman of Thomas Miller and chief executive of UK P&I Club, said: “I am very pleased to welcome Wai Pong to Thomas Miller. He has a wealth of experience and expertise in the shipping industry and his appointment demonstrates our commitment in strengthening the relationships between the Club and the shipping community in Singapore.”

Andrew Jones, Thomas Miller’s regional director based in Hong Kong, added: “I am very pleased that Wai Pong is joining our Singapore office.  We are very conscious of the need to provide first rate services and support to members of the UK P&I Club and the UK Defence Club, particularly in these extremely difficult times for shipping.

“Wai Pong’s appointment is reinforcing our ties with the Singapore shipping community and is a reflection of the increasing importance of Singapore as a maritime hub”

Sabiha Shiraz, deputy executive director of Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC), commented: “We are delighted to have Wai Pong join us as the consultant. He brings with him a wealth of experience in the maritime industry which will strengthen our outreach efforts to create awareness of mediation as a cost-effective and efficient tool for dispute resolution.”

Wai Pong said: “I am very excited and enthused by both appointments and am looking forward to applying my dispute resolution and communication skills to the network of contacts I have established over four decades to fulfil the initiatives I have been tasked with and achieve the outcomes expected. Many of the initiatives are intensively based on specific skills and trust, areas of work which I take particular pride in discharging in the course of my work.

“I am also very pleased that my principals have endorsed my dispute resolution skills and experience by encouraging me to take on appointments as both arbitrator and mediator as part of my practice, so long as there is proper disclosure and parties are satisfied that no material areas of conflict exist.