Marine surveyors warns insurance firms against unregistered operators

 

The Guild of Marine surveyors has warned insurance firms against doing businesses with registered surveyors at the ports.

A marine surveyor inspects, surveys, or examines marine vessels to assess damage, or monitor their condition and that of any cargo on board.They also inspect equipment intended for new or old vessels to ensure compliance with various standards or specifications.

President, Guild of Marine Surveyors of Nigeria, Mr. Wale Adetoro, told reporters that some insurance firms still patronised unregistered surveyors, some of who are not professionals.

Stating that the guild is sensitising underwriting firms through the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) to carry out due diligence on any appointed surveyor to ensure he or she is registered, he added that, the list of registered ones are on the Guild’s website.

He said: “We still have surveyors operating at the port that are not our members, yet Insurance companies engage them. Most of it is a brown envelope under the table and if they commit any fraudulent act, nobody is there to discipline them. But, in our case, we have punitive measures against erring members which has made every member alive to the discharge of their duties and responsibilities.

“Most of the importers don’t know who a surveyor or Superintendent is. Awareness is still needed to enlighten importers on what our roles are. We have appealed to insurance companies through the NIA that if they want to appoint, they should go through our website to appoint registered members.’’

The marine surveyors, according to him, are appointed by insurance firms to supervise cargoes that were earlier insured through marine policy to minimise damage and report to their insurers the level of and reasons for damage.

He further stated that marine surveyors work in the port mainly to try and limit claim exposures on marine Insurance through prompt monitoring of the discharged cargoes, such that damages are limited in the process.

 

He said: “Insurance companies appoint us to be their face at the port, so we are their representative.

 

However, we have some superintendents who work with the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA). As a group, we are not chartered yet, but we are working towards that. We are interacting with the NIA through the Marine Offices Committee (MOC) of the NIA. We also work, in conjunction with the Shippers Council and NIMASA. MOC consists of the marine technical heads in insurance companies. Through the NIID Marine Portal, it has been able to curb, to some extent, fake marine certificates.”

Similarly, the General Secretary, Guild of Marine Surveyors, Festus Nwiue, urged the Shippers Council to ensure stevedores working at the port are adequately insured with liability insurance and are trained on handling of cargoes, stating that most insurance claims arising from marine insurance were as a result of mishandling of cargoes during discharge.

“Stevedores are the ones with the responsibility of discharging the ship or loading the ships. Stevedores are those who use forklift, crane and so on and are responsible for loading and unloading the ships.They don’t have any insurance cover, they don’t know anything about insurance. So, some mishandle cargoes that lead to damage of goods, hence, increasing the risks marine insurers are exposed to. And they mishandled cargo because they are not held responsible for damages by the Shippers Council.

“So, we have recommended to the Shippers Council to ensure that stevedores are made to procure liability insurance cover, so that they will be careful when handling goods.They are doing that because they know they are not held responsible. We urge the regulator to ensure any stevedore working in the ports has insurance cover,” he stressed.