Engaging a marine surveyor
When choosing a marine surveyor, it’s important to know that anyone can claim to be a marine surveyor and start a business. However, some surveyors go the extra mile to get official accreditation from legitimate organisations. This means they’ve met rigorous professional, technical, and ethical standards. Our advice is to check for these accreditations.
It’s also a good sign if your surveyor has hands-on experience in the marine industry—what we like to call “getting their hands dirty and spending time in the bilge.” They should provide you with a professionally prepared report that your bank or insurance company will accept. Do your research and ask the right questions before hiring a surveyor.
Australian Marine Safety Authority or AMSA is Australia’s national agency responsible for maritime safety, protection of the marine environment, and maritime aviation search and rescue. Domestic Commercial Vessels such as charter vessels, vessels for hire, fishing vessels, and work-type vessels must maintain a periodic survey and inspection process, performed by an AMSA-accredited surveyor. AMSA does not apply to non-hiring recreational vessels.
Choosing and preparing for a survey
Most insurance companies and banks will need a survey to determine the vessel’s condition and fair market value before they’ll agree to finance or insure it.
Beyond that, knowing the condition of the vessel before you buy it can give you peace of mind. An accredited marine surveyor surveyor is trained to spot defects, damage, and potential expenses that might not be included in the asking price.
If you’re working within a specific budget, factor in the cost of repairs and maintenance. We’ve seen cases where repair costs can reach or even exceed the vessel’s price! But above all, the most important reason to get a survey is to ensure the safety of everyone on board.
Marine surveys are performed for a variety of reasons, and the requirements for each survey differs depending on what you need a survey for:
Pre-Purchase Survey
This type of survey is strongly advised when purchasing a used vessel. The condition and overall operation of all systems and vessels are examined. This includes structural integrity, electrical systems, plumbing systems, propulsion system, fuel systems, any other systems, navigation equipment, cosmetic appearance, electronics, and general maintenance of the vessel. We also conduct a sea trial and haul out to survey the underwater portion of the hull and components.
Insurance Survey
An insurance survey is a type of survey used by insurance companies to assess whether or not they want to insure a specific vessel. An insurance survey is a much shorter survey. It helps insurance underwriters determine if it makes sense to insure a particular vessel. The insurance survey has two main purposes:
- to identify the vessel, its equipment, and general condition, and
- to identify defects, damages or unsafe conditions that pose any possible threat to the safety of the vessel and its passengers, or any other condition that is likely to result in loss or damage, in other words, the insurance survey is specifically for determining potential liability and risk.
Appraisal Inspection
This inspection is performed to gather enough information to justify or determine the fair market value of the vessel. This is normally needed for financing, estate settlements, and legal cases.
Damage Inspection
The surveyor can be retained to determine the cause of a loss and determine the extent of loss-related damage and may be asked to recommend repairs, review estimates, and determine the pre-loss value of a vessel. This type of survey is typically performed for whoever is paying for the loss; the insurance company or vessel owner.
Make sure your vessel is clean and tidy. Have the safety equipment easily accessible for inspection and ensure easy access to all bilge areas. In some cases, you will need to make arrangements with the boat yard to haul the vessel out of the water for inspecting the hull. If necessary, organise a captain for sea trials.
Make sure you have the vessel details available, such as:
- Length/draft/beam/displacement
- Hull Identification Number (HIN)
- Recent repair receipts
All systems should be ready to operate. Power up any refrigerators and water heaters ahead of time. We prefer if it the engines have not been started or run as we spend time in the engine room before start-up.
Verbal or written authorisation from the owner can sometimes be needed to board and/or remove part of the vessel. Have this ready to go to avoid delays and extra costs.
Once you retain a marine surveyor, they only work for you and they don’t report to anyone else. Remember, your marine surveyor is there to protect your interests.
You don’t have to be there but where possible, we encourage all our clients to be present for a marine surveyor. It gives us the chance to immediately point out any issues to be dealt with, discuss your options, and for you to ask any questions you might have.
This is entirely up to you but we certainly recommend this additional survey.
Consider the following:
- The cost of a ‘Mechanical Survey’ which includes taking engine oil samples and subsequent analysis.
- The potential cost of an engine rebuild, transmission rebuild, or generator rebuild.
An oil sample analysis evaluates the levels, types of metals, and the presence of contaminants such as abrasives, soot, water, fuel, and engine coolant in the oil of gas and diesel engines. A lab report will flag any suspected issues, possible causes, and offer some practical recommendations.
Typical conditions that can show up include abnormal wear of metals, fuel dilution, dirt or water contamination, coolant contamination, and incorrect lubricant.
Discovering engine, transmission or generator issues early can prevent expensive repairs in the future.
After the survey
The survey will list ‘found’ conditions on the vessel and your surveyor will go through these items with you. This review will cover which issues need immediate and future attention. Your surveyor can also assist with any repairs required if you would like.
Prior to the survey, the owner and/or broker should be aware of any major issues and have brought these issues to the table before the sea trial.
Depending on what the survey finds, you might need to have a frank conversation with the owner and/or broker about who will be responsible for which repairs. Many times the repairs/costs are divided between both parties.
If this happens, then you’ll definitely be happy you engaged an accredited marine surveyor to assist you with your survey. Sometimes a vessel has been through an event causing catastrophic damage. This can mean several things including;
- fire
- collision with another object
- sinking
- typhoon
- major component failure causing serious damage to the vessel.
In some cases, the previous damage can be quite apparent, depending on location, severity, and subsequent repairs. Most times, however, it will take a trained eye to spot repairs on the boat.
If there is an irregularity during the surveying of the vessel, it will be noted in the report. Further investigation may be recommended as your surveyor generally performs non-destructive testing for ordinary surveys.
Buying a boat
Everything!
Hire an accredited marine surveyor (like us!) to guide you through the sale and review any issues with the boat.
The best time to buy a boat is when you are ready to buy a boat.
Heaps!
Take boating classes and safety courses.
Go boating with a licensed friend.
Get your boating license.
Read articles about boats and equipment similar to the one you want.
Hire a marine surveyor to guide you through a boat before you buy one
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Would you buy a car before driving it?
- Would you buy a house before spending time in it?
- Would you get married to someone you don’t know?
Boats are expensive to own and maintain. Spend time on board, sea trial the boat(test drive) and most importantly, hire an accredited marine surveyor to assist you.
Hire an accredited marine surveyor to inspect the vessel and review with you all findings, potential issues and repairs required.
The following link to Queensland Maritime Safety is an excellent resource for first-time boat buyers. We recommend you spend some time on this website: https://www.msq.qld.gov.au/
Yes, but do your research before you start talking price. They say knowledge is power and this is definitely the case when it comes to buying a boat. Make sure you know what is currently on the market and what the market value of the boat/boats you’re interested in is.
Other boat questions
You should conduct a visual check of underwater equipment/components every single time before you leave the dock. Make sure your safety gear is current and in good condition before each outing, this includes;
- Life jackets
- Flares
- First aid kit (if on board)
- EPIRB (if applicable)
We recommend a monthly visual check of all working systems and that you open and close all seacocks/ball/gate valves.
Engine/generator inspection/maintenance should follow the manufacturer recommendations.
This a very subjective question. Boats are usually in harsh and corrosive environments. Components and systems can, particularly over time of non-use, become frozen or stuck, especially in salt water. Regularly operating the systems on your vessel will (usually) lengthen the life of components and systems.
We recommend you follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for engines and generators in a marine environment
The definition of ‘seaworthy’ is ‘fit or safe for sea voyage’. The following factors, in addition to maintenance and current operability, contributes
to each level of seaworthiness;
- The vessel’s stability.
- Whether the vessel has good handling in rough or choppy waters.
- The vessel’s buoyancy even when it is carrying a heavy load.
- Propulsion system reliability.
- The ability of the ship to shed water efficiently.
- Speed and agility of the vessel given its age and size.
- Solid construction that is able to withstand the dangers of the sea.
- Fire resistance and suppression capabilities.
- Sufficient safety equipment that is appropriate for emergency situations.
- Lack of avoidable safety hazards.
All registered boats have been tested and rated for different levels of seaworthiness. Additional factors the manufacturer is not able to calculate are; water, weather, and environmental conditions for any particular voyage. This is where experience, common sense, and planning come into play.
The manufacturer of your boat will have submitted plans to marine and government bodies, and specific calculations to measure for levels of seaworthiness. Follow these recommendations and use common sense.
See the following link to Queensland Boating Safety:
https://www.qld.gov.au/emergency/safety/recreation/boating-safety