Twenty years after the Standard Club began its joint venture with Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire (TMNF) to underwrite P&I business in Japan, the club is celebrating its successful partnership. Tokio Standard for the 21st century (TS21) has gone from strength to strength and now underwrites 8% of P&I business in Japan.

In order to further enhance the service provided to the members of TS21, the club has opened a new claims office in Tokyo. The office is led by experienced Japanese Claims Director, Masaki Maeda, who will work with TMNF to ensure continuing first class claims service to Japanese shipowners.

Masaki Maeda will liaise with and assist TMNF in servicing TS21 members through claims handling and provision of general claims advice. He will work closely with the club’s claims team in Singapore.

Masaki joins the club after a career of 30 years with TMNF where he has held claims and managerial roles. During his career he has worked in many locations out of Japan and his expertise covers all areas of commercial claims. Masaki spent several years working with TS21 and has a longstanding relationship with the club.

Jeremy Grose, Group Chief Executive at the Standard Club said: “We are delighted to celebrate 20 years of TS21. Japan is a key market for us and TMNF is a highly valued partner. This is a significant step in continuing to enhance the service provided by TS21. We are so pleased to have Masaki Maeda join us to lead this new office. His exceptional experience, his understanding of the P&I market both in Japan and around the world, will make him an asset to our team. This is an exciting time for TS21 and we are looking forward to working with TMNF on this next phase of growth.”

Tokiko Inoue, Executive Officer, Head of Commercial Lines Claims Dept. at TMNF said: “This new claims office is testament to the club’s commitment to the Japanese market. We have a very successful partnership with the Standard Club and are pleased that such an experienced Japanese person will be leading the office. 20 is a special number in Japan and marks the coming of age of TS21. We look forward to our continued relationship with Standard Club.”