Engaging an Expert Witness, Technical Adviser or Abitrator
SCMS members may act as Expert Witnesses, Technical Advisers or Arbitrators in marine enquiries and investigations. While the total range of services may not be offered by every member, it is shared by the total membership and, whatever service may be required, you are sure to find someone with the skills and expertise to meet your needs within the Society's membership.
Affiliated to the Federation of European Maritime Associations of Surveyor and Consultants (FEMAS), SCMS is able to draw on an extensive database of Expert Witnesses worldwide including Croatia, Germany , Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Itlay , the Netherlands as well as having access to several Expert Witnesses in the UK.
Members who offer their services as expert witnesses on this site are not accredited by SCMS and their qualifications to act as independent expert witnesses have not been checked or verified by SCMS.
It is advisable to instruct an Expert Witness at the earliest opportunity to enable a full and factual assessment of an event before any evidence is disposed of, or destroyed.
Below are examples of the types of cases undertaken by SCMS Expert Witnesses, Technical Advisors and Arbitrators:
A High Court hearing of a claim by a widow against the Royal Navy for death by drowning of her late husband;
A High Court prosecution of a British captain of an offshore survey vessel converted in Canada from a naval auxillary vessel, charged with importing drugs from the West Indies to Spain in a hidden compartment designed and stated to be a moon-pool;
A County Court hearing for a claim by the common law wife of a fisherman lost overboard trawler due to an alleged oil leak onto the deck;
A County Court claim by a motor yacht owner against his engine maintainer for poor laying up procedures.
