Mike Lloyd's contribution honoured

A WELL-KNOWN name has just signed off from the SA shipping industry. Mike Lloyd, the executive secretary of the Association of Ships' Agents and Brokers of SA (Asabosa) and the Association of Shipping Lines (ASL) – now the SA Association of Ships' Operators and Agents (Saasoa) – has just retired. Born in London in 1932, Mike was educated in the UK and did his two years national service there. He subsequently moved to Penang in what was then Malaya (now Malaysia) – where he joined a British trading company which was the agent for several overseas lines, including Scotland’s Ben Line and the Danish shipping company, Knutsen. At the same time, he decided to end his bachelor days and married his teacher wife Enid. “We had already met in the UK,” Mike said, “but she travelled out separately to Malaya, under contract as a schoolteacher to the British government." By 1977, the couple decided to make a final move. “Enid and I had travelled the world extensively,” Mike said, “and, when we decided to leave Malaya, South Africa was our first choice." Settled in Durban, Mike continued his ships' agency career and worked for Ellerman & Bucknall and then Freight Marine Shipping (eventually taken over by Rennies) – before joining Asabosa/ASL. “Mike has contributed immensely to the shipping industry,” said Saasoa CEO, Thato Tsautse. “We intend to honour him with the honorary membership of Saasoa – the first ever to be issued.”