An era has ended at Safmarine with the stepping down of m.d. Tony Farr. But as one chapter closes a new and exciting one begins both for the line and for the man who has played such a crucial role in charting its course over the past decade.
THE POIGNANCE of the occasion was not lost as I was joined in the boardroom of Safmarine House with its spectacular view of the harbour by the big man with the big vision on his last day in office almost thirty three and a half years to the day since he joined the company in December 1966.
It was a critical period in the evolution of the shipping industry worldwide and in South Africa in particular in the context of sanctions and political change. The challenges clearly attracted the young Tony Farr who, armed with a B Com degree and an MBA from the University of Cape Town, joined Safmarine directly after university.
Born in the Eastern Cape where his father was a farmer, he was allocated to Safmarine for a mid-term project during his studies, and that was when the shipping bug took hold.
Starting off in the accounting and secretarial services division, he was, in the years that followed, to work alongside some of the big names in the industry.
After a stint as marketing assistant to George Fullerton, he was transferred to Johannesburg as branch manager in 1971 - three years which he describes as some of the most formative.
"We had direct contact with our customers and at the time were able to build up a young team, particularly on the sales side, several of whom are still involved now.
"It was also a period of big change for the liner shipping business which was starting to look towards containerisation."
In 1974 Farr returned to Cape Town. As deputy to Les Basset, who was heading the team looking at the introduction of containersiation, and working with Peter James, Jan Rabie and Guy Nichol, all familiar names in the industry, he became involved in the technical development of systems in the run-up to "C-day" in 1976/77.
He went on to make his mark in the reefer business where, with one of the consultants, he was involved in the start-up of Universal Reefers as an independent reefer operation.
Farr's next stop was London as c.e. of the SA - Europe Container Service.
"This was a totally new experience," says Farr.
"Although I was seconded by Safmarine, in many ways I was working for the member lines, looking after the interests of eight or nine different lines of different nationalities.
"Being in a neutral position you learn enormously from handling the different interests of the different parties."
The untimely death of Marmion Marsh, Safmarine's m.d. at the time, brought Farr back to South Africa where a new era began under the leadership of Mike Finlay.
During that period he was responsible for the total liner activities of Safmarine.
He was appointed managing director in 1989 and director of Safren two years later.
"Since then the emphasis has been for Safmarine to adapt to the changing environment.
"In the 1980s the challenge was to operate in the sanctions era, which Safmarine did very well.
"The early 90s presented a different scenario. South Africa was now part of the global village and with that came increased competition particularly in the container industry."
Safmarine took the view that they needed to grow the business.
The acquisition of 49% of the shares in CMBT in September 1991 was the start of this.
"We believe that if we had not taken the decision at that point, Safmarine would have been in difficulties earlier on."
To grow critical mass Safmarine subsequently merged to form SCL (Safmarine Container Lines).
The climax of its growth spurt came with its unbundling and the sale of Safmarine's liner interests to AP Moller.
"From my point of view there is a hint of sadness that Safmarine has been split up, but I remain convinced that it is the best solution, not only for the shareholders but for the stakeholders as well."
Farr will continue as non-executive chairman of the board of Safmarine and non-executive director of Maersk SA. He is also chairman of the Western Cape advisory board of Standard Bank, and sits on the main board of Standard Bank and the UCT council
Over the next three months, between travelling around Southern Africa and improving his golf handicap, he will use his unaccustomed free time to decide his future plans with the confidence that the company which owes so much to his leadership is ready to embrace the challenges of the future in tip-top shape.
The irony of the moment was not lost when Safmarine's driver Gamza Davids told me on our trip to the airport that, like Tony Farr, he too was handing in his keys after 33 years with the company. "Tomorrow I take the big boss to the airport for the last time."
Joy Orlek
Copyright Now Media (Pty) Ltd
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