Feature
Marine cargo surveying – how times have changed
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helley Beasley, head of marine NZ at Sedgwick, started her career as a surveyor in the New Zealand marine industry in 1986, and provides an update on the cargo market. Go back 30 years Exponential growth in shipping, together with technological innovations and more stringent health and safety legislation, has driven huge changes in the way the industry operates. Go back 30 years, and things were completely different. In the 1990s, the marine insurance and surveying industry was male-dominated. Today, we have many female marine surveyors – now most staff and managers across the marine insurance sector are women. Much of a marine surveyors’ time used to be spent on the wharves. 30
September 2021
The Ports of Auckland had several cargo sheds, and they were the only party that unloaded the containers, which meant it could take weeks for importers to receive their cargo. Claims for missing shipments were common. This was due to packages being damaged or poorly marked, so they were put aside, often found months later in a corner of one of the sheds. Most cargo was inspected at the wharf before delivery and regularly included imported new cars, pipes and cases of car parts. Slow progress Marine surveyors used to be able to wander around the wharves with just a clipboard and a business card. Now they must be accompanied by a port staff member at all times. A full induction process is mandatory,
photo ID is required at sign-in, and minimum PPE of high-viz jackets and safety boots must be worn. Surveyors driving onto the wharf must have their vehicles inspected inside and out and then be escorted to the survey destination by port security staff. Thirty years ago, things didn’t happen that quickly, and there were numerous downtimes when you had to wait during smoko, meal breaks and shift changeovers. Today, many ports run 24/7, and almost all containers are devanned off the wharf by a range of companies, within a day or two of arrival – COVID-19 issues aside. So, most surveys are now held at the insured’s premises or third-party logistics firms. Digital sensors Reefer containers used to
