Surveying

Rising to the challenge

Tiina Ruhlandt, President & CEO of global supply chain experts EIMC, that specializes in risk management and claims services in the marine sector, decribes the challenges faced by marine surveyors brought by the pandemic and how they have been overcome

The Covid-19 pandemic brought about many changes to our personal and work lives. The beginning of 2020 seems a lifetime ago. At the same time much of the 17 months since the first lock-downs seems a blur.

We learned to appreciate the most ordinary of things. We also learned to recognize the value of work and workers who were previously often overlooked.

Suddenly the supply chain was everyday mainstream news. More people learned about the complex interdependent networks through which goods end up on our store shelves.

CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE WORKERS

On March 27, 2020 the US Coast Guard issued Marine Safety Information Bulletin No. 11-20 which identified marine consultants and surveyors as essential critical infrastructure workers. Specifically, the US Coast Guard considered these workers to be “essential for maintaining the continuous flow of maritime commerce.” It is worth remembering that about 80% of global trade is carried by sea.

So, what did being a marine surveyor in the US during the Covid-19 crisis look like?

At EIMC we were already set up to work remotely from home. We were spared that business challenge.

We were grateful to be considered essential and to be able to continue to operate. The marine surveyor’s primary work is field work – be it at a port, aboard a ship, an airport, a rail yard, a warehouse, a retail store, and even in private homes. It requires interaction with other people and so one immediate question to tackle was: How were we going to protect our team?

As the CDC (Centre for Disease Control) guidelines evolved, so did our safety guidelines. In the beginning that meant our surveyors needed to wear gloves, practice good handwashing hygiene, and maintain appropriate physical distancing.

We decided to ban air travel until more information about the risks was available. US-based surveyors, especially in the middle of the country, were used to long drives to attend jobs. Now some trips were even longer, frequently crossing state lines and involving hotel stays along the way.

Was staying in a hotel safe? Was it safer than flying?

Then came various guidance on the use of face coverings. We had to stay on top of 50 different guidelines in 50 different states. What was permitted and what was not? What was open and what was not?

At one point, the state of Pennsylvania closed all of its highway rest stops to all activities, including parking and toilet facilities. Could our surveyor be stopped and questioned by law enforcement?

In preparation we issued letters on company letterhead identifying them by name as a key worker in an essential business. They kept that with them at all times together with a copy of the Coast Guard MSIB.

On top of rules by authorities, marine surveyors had to comply with whatever restrictions and requirements the survey location imposed. These included temperature checks, pre-attendance testing and even hotel quarantine before project attendance.

ACCESS TO TESTING

In the early months, access to testing was limited and turnaround time uncertain. Even in good circumstances, receiving the test results could take up to 96 hours. Shipping companies and authorities wanted a test no older than 72 hours. No test result, no access.

What should we do? Get a second test as a back up? Pay a higher fee at an emergency room to get a faster result? These were all charges we had to pass on to clients. When tests were scarce, was it ethical to “take away” a test from someone else? As rapid testing availability increased, for certain vessel inspections our surveyors had to have a daily test at the berth and wait for the result before boarding.

For a large project at a military site, one of our surveyors (JP) was required to quarantine for two weeks in a 14’x19’ hotel room before being allowed on the jobsite. He did this four times in 10 months.

MONOPOLY GAME

He describes his experience: “It is like that monopoly game, do not pass go, go straight to jail! Quarantine means sacrifice, of my liberty, of normal contact with my wife and family, and loss of contact with the outside world; my whole work-life environment. The hotel room key is only good for entering one time and is programmed to alert security if you try to enter the room again before your 2 weeks are up. That first time being released feels strange, and you thank God you are alive and can take a long walk…and then get sunburned! All part of living the dream of a marine surveyor.”

Marine surveyors carried on and rose to the challenges. We are used to working in challenging environments after a disaster. There is a certain high that keeps you going in those times, but we know that those times are finite. We were not used to the seeming endlessness of the pandemic. JP’s experience of quarantine is a condensed version what we all experienced this past year in one form or another.

Another challenge was how to deal with situations in which we were not permitted any access at all? Shipping companies refused vessel boardings. Facilities were semi-closed, operating with reduced personnel, forbidding or limiting access to outside visitors. How could we still give our clients the information they needed? How do you carry out a joint survey when the number of external visitors is limited?

The answer, of course, was technology. We conducted and continue to conduct remote surveys via video, including remote joint surveys with multiple parties. This trend was in its infancy prior to the pandemic. It is now increasingly accepted as another tool in the marine surveyor’s toolbox. With the assistance of a person on-site we can virtually attend, direct and guide the filming process, obtain a video record from which we can pull still images for a traditional survey report.

We will continue to use these tools to improve our service to our clients and at the same time reduce our carbon footprint. Innovation has been spurred on by the pandemic circumstances. Time after time – through natural disasters, trade wars, labor disruptions, and now a pandemic – we have seen that planning for the unexpected and, above all, agility are key. As we slowly start to emerge from the Covid-19 crisis, we can use this opportunity to (re)define what it means to do the essential work of a marine surveyor today and in the future.

“Marine surveyors carried on and rose to the challenges. We are used to working in challenging environments after a disaster. There is a

certain high that keeps you going in those times, but we know that those times are finite. We were

not used to the seeming endlessness of the pandemic.’’

Tiina Ruhlandt, EIMC