Maritime Surveyors

Find maritime surveyors and maritime surveying services
By Cathy Salustri Maritime surveyors and marine surveying services appraise and evaluate the worth of a boat or the extent of damages to a boat. Whether your company owns one boat or a fleet of vessels it's a smart idea to know how to find and what's involved with hiring a maritime surveyor. Businesses hire marine surveyors for one of four reasons: a prepurchase survey of a vessel, an insurance survey, an appraisal inspection or a damage inspection.

Anyone can start a maritime surveyor's service regardless of his training or knowledge, so finding a reputable marine and cargo survey company requires you do more than flip open the yellow pages or search for marine surveyors on Google. To hire a qualified marine and cargo surveyor company that will accurately value your vessel or vessels, work through the three questions below.

1. What type of maritime surveyor do you need?

2. How should you choose a maritime surveyor?

3. How should you prepare for a marine surveyor's visit?

Decide what type of maritime surveyor your company needs

If you want to buy a vessel then you'll need a different type of maritime surveyor than if you have an insurance claim. Know the different types of maritime surveyors you can hire and why you might hire each type of maritime surveyors.
Try:  On his website, Tod Felhaber, an accredited marine surveyor, has a brief description of the four primary marine surveys available. "Captain's Log" is a You Tube television show about boating, and they have an excellent seven minute video about the different types of marine surveys.

Select a marine and cargo surveyor company

Since anyone can call himself a marine surveyor it can be difficult to determine which marine and cargo surveyors can accurately assess your vessel. If you don't hire a marine surveyor who knows the business then you could end up with a useless survey. Look for accredited marine surveying companies to ensure you get a quality survey.
Try:  You can search for accredited maritime surveyors, ocean cargo surveyors, a maritime cargo surveyor and other maritime surveyor services by searching the National Association of Marine Surveyors by region or category. You may also search the Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors geographically.

Prepare your vessel for a visit from the marine surveyors

No matter the type of marine surveyor services you retain, you want to show your boat at its best, so a little work on your company's part can help you get the most from the maritime surveyors you've hired to value your vessel.
Try:  Tropical Web Works has a handy checklist for preparing a vessel for a visit from a maritime surveyor. Work through the steps, and if you still have questions then consider buying a book about what surveyors look for during their evaluation. The McGraw-Hill Companies sells "Surveying Fiberglass Sailboats," which will give you a better understanding of how marine surveyors operate and what you can do to facilitate a successful survey.

• The information in this guide applies to vessels in the United States. If you want to hire international marine surveyors then these steps will still help you, but be aware of laws in other countries. Some countries have other organizations you can use to select an international maritime surveyor, so look for those organizations if you're dealing on an international level.