The Story

The Origins

Feliba's co-founder Ray Munro started his working life as a trainee engineer at the Corning Glass Works in February 1965. This was followed by 14 years in the shipping industry with a number of jobs in operations as well as maintenance and repair.

Following this Ray spent five years at Coolectron, a company which provided similar services to the present Feliba, the biggest of it's kind in Australia at the time. Coolectron's founder, former Swedish chief engineer Nisse Nilsson, spent a lot of time with Ray and a very strong friendship developed. He was one of the driving forces behind Ray's return to study, leading to his mechanical engineering degree, a committed task for a family man with three young children. After Nisse passed in 1985, Ray moved on due to his concern with Coolectron's new management. A perceptive move, as Coolectron only lasted another 15 months under the control of the new (mis)management.

With Ray's experience to date, the contacts he had established through Coolectron and with the (now unemployed) service manager from Coolectron, an opportunity became clear and the pair regrouped and entered the reefer service business themselves, under the name of Feliba Pty Ltd.

The Formative Years

The new operation started with very little, but they did bring with them the support of many former Coolectron clients, as well as the support of old friends in the industry such as Celsiunator in Melbourne.

Major shipping lines of the time, such as OOCL, NOL, ABC, MISC, ANZDL, and CGM to name a few were clients who initially supported Feliba, for which Feliba is still grateful.

The first two years saw Feliba's office and workshop situated in Sydney's Broadway, close to the then active ports of Darling Harbour and White Bay, and not too far from the terminals and depots in the Port Botany area.

As the business grew in these formative years, the Broadway premises clearly became outgrown and a move was made to the MCS depot in Banksmeadow. Not only did this offer more room, it was also much closer to the major ports and depots in the Botany area.

The Early Days

After five years together, three of which at the MCS site, Mr Munro was obliged to buy out his partner in the interest of continuing the small, yet growing company.

Before the dust had settled as Ray was acclimatising to sole ownership, the opportunity to open a branch in Brisbane, Queensland was acted upon. Whilst in Brisbane establishing this new office Mr. Munro had a chance encounter with Tony Waller, the former manager of the Sydney Haulage container depot. Mr Waller had semi-retired and since moved north to the warmer climate.

Tony was to get Feliba started in Brisbane on a temporary basis but ended up staying with the company for 14 years, from 1991 until his retirement in 2005 due to ill health.

Following the retirement of Mr. Waller, the long standing Brisbane service manager, Warrick Wintle, was appointed as state manager. Warrick had been with Feliba since leaving school and completed his apprenticeship with the company many years earlier.

Further Expansion

At the request of several shipping lines, Feliba commenced its operations in Melbourne, Victoria during 1993. Originally managed by Frank Caggegi until his departure in 1998, the management role was passed over to one of Melbourne's then senior technicians, Harry Klonaris.

Harry joined the company straight from school (albeit in the Sydney branch) and was an excellent student during his apprenticeship. Miguel Valdivia, a mechanical engineer, has been service manager for the Melbourne branch since his commencement.

The Melbourne branch is Feliba's largest operation in the country.

The Next Step

In 1998, again at the request of clients, Feliba started its service in Adelaide, South Australia.

Gary Ferguson, a well respected and experienced reefer technician was appointed as the branch manager. Craig Paget, a former South Australian Apprentice of the Year, came on board as service manager.

The Recent Years

In 2007, Gary Ferguson retired from the industry and Craig Paget was appointed branch manager for Adelaide. Recently, experienced technician and long time employee Steve Moore was appointed as the service manager.