World-class Marine Consultancy Services launched for West Africa

We are proud to announce the launch of a full range of marine consultancy services for West Africa.

Marine Consultancy ensures that vessels and crew are accredited to the necessary standards and ensures that those standards are consistently maintained. Throughout the world operators expect to be regularly assessed and trained to ensure that they continue to meet these standards. As the leading consultancy in the region the lack of top-level Marine Surveyors available to operators was something we have been aware of and concerned about for some time and we have now taken the decision to rectify the situation.

We are proud to announce the addition of Captain Lee Hadfield to the CARES Group Team.

Lee is an unlimited Master Mariner and Authorised Vessel Inspector (AVI) and a leading Marine Consultancy specialist. Combining his knowledge with our resources and our experience of operating throughout the West African region, we are able to ensure that shipping, offshore and renewable sector businesses operating in West Africa are now able to have access to a world-class range of services.

The range of services includes eCMID and OVID Vessel Surveys for Dynamic positioning (DP) vessels, Pipelay vessels, Cablelay vessels and General vessels including heavy lift vessels of 500grt and more and/or 24m or more in length.

Also included are eMISW Surveys – which are marine inspections of Small Workboats of less than 500 gross tonnage and/or less than 24m.

Suitability Surveys are offered to assess if a vessel is properly equipped to cover contractual operations. This includes a thorough check of vessel certification, a check of crew certification, ISM compliance if required, assessments of lifesaving and firefighting equipment as well as detailed inspections of internal and external condition, inspection of machinery spaces and checking the function and testing of critical equipment.

We are able to undertake comprehensive Condition Surveys. These are based on the same criteria as a Suitability Survey and take place during an ongoing contract, to ensure the vessel is maintained in a suitable condition that enables it to operate effectively and meet its legal and contractual obligations.

An end report is issued that acts as a statement of fact for the condition of the vessel at a specific time and includes Findings or Close outs, which highlight any areas of concern and recommendations for remediation.

On-Hire Surveys or Off-Hire Surveys are reports of marine assets, assessing the condition of an asset. This can include:

• Checking of certification.
• Inventory of stores.
• Witnessing and noting fuel figures.
• Assessing the external condition of a vessel.
• Assessing the internal condition of a vessel.
• Checking the cleanliness of cargo spaces.
• Checking for any damage to a vessel.
• Assessing reasonable wear and tear.
• Resolving differences in fuel figures.

A Certificate of attestation is issued upon completion of the survey.

Marine surveys are not just restricted to vessels, they can also focus on:

• Crew Appraisals.
• International Safety Management (ISM) Audits.
• International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS) Audit.

“It can’t be emphasised enough just how crucial Marine Consultancy is to operators in the Shipping, Offshore and Renewable sectors and it is amazing  that there are so few consultancies providing these services in such a strategically vital region as West Africa,” says Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Spivey.

“It goes without saying that these are safety critical operations and crews are operating regularly in very testing and hostile circumstances. Their safety is always a paramount consideration. Beyond this though if anything ever does go wrong with a vessel or an operating asset the ramifications can be very serious indeed for the operator. The damage done to the reputation of a company found to be at fault can destroy a business, especially if it results in death or injury to people, but also in terms of pollution and environmental damage. The costs of repairing or replacing vessels or associated assets can be very high indeed and downtime for having a vessel unable to fulfil its contract can also be commercially disastrous.

“With all this in mind we are delighted to be able to close this gap, so that for the first time operators throughout West Africa can have the reassurance that their vessels, crew and assets are certified to the most rigorous global standards by a team of the most highly qualified professionals,” Jonathan concludes.