Cargo Surveys

IMS offers a full range of commercial survey, inspection, sampling and testing services with supporting Certificates and other relevant documentation, including, but not limited to, the following:

  1. Hold and Tank Cleanliness/Condition Surveys – vessel’s cargo worthiness, including hold and tank condition and cleanliness, and the general suitability to load a particular cargo.
  2. Vessels of On/Off Surveys – vessel’s hold condition and/or bunker on board at time of “on/off hire.”
  3. Compliance Surveys – verifying the vessel’s suitability to carry cargoes governed by rules or codes, such as grain, bulk cargoes, timber deck cargoes and hazardous goods; and the practical application of local laws and customs of the trade.
  4. Cargo Pre-Loading Surveys – to measure and calculate the cargo’s volume for freight payment and stowage purposes, and to verify its condition by recording all visible damage before shipment or at the warehouse or dock for insurance purposes, carriers and freight forwarders.
  5. Loading, Handling and Stowage Advice – including stability and stress calculations; advice on draft and trim; safe carriage and discharge; to assure the effectiveness of securing; and for recommending and supervising loading, stowage, lashing, blocking and bracing to ensure the safe carriage of the cargoes.
  6. Grain Stability Separations and Stress Calculation – assisting the master in the loading, planning and/or calculation to best meet code.
  7. Heavy-Lift and Project Cargo Surveys – cargo condition, handling, stowage and lashing before and during loading are mostly done on behalf of shippers, underwriters, carriers and freight forwarders.
  8. Pre-Shipment Surveys – surveys of break-bulk cargo, especially newsprint, wood-pulp and project cargoes to ensure that bills of lading and mate’s receipts accurately note the apparent condition of cargo when it is loaded, and to comment on the water-tightness, condition and ventilation of the vessel’s holds.
  9. Out-turn Surveys – surveys of break-bulk cargo, especially steel, on arrival at the discharge port, to establish condition and any damages or shift of cargo that may have occurred during the voyage. This survey often requires Silver Nitrate testing for chloride residues.
  10. Draft Surveys – surveys to determine the quantity of a bulk cargo loaded or discharged by reading the vessel’s drafts, measuring the ballast water, fuel and diesel oil and other liquids on board, and calculating the final quantity by using the vessel’s approved dead-weight scales and tank tables, etc.
  11. Dead-freight Surveys – to determine by measurement the amount of cargo a vessel could have loaded if all the available space was utilised. This is to determine the loss of freight due to short shipment of cargo.
  12. Hatch Sealing – to ensure that no contamination or loss of cargo occurs during passage or stopover in other Ports prior to final destination.
  13. Damage Surveys – investigation of cargo damage or loss claims on behalf of P&I Clubs, carriers, shippers, consignee, etc. to determine possible cause and extent of any damage that may have occurred during shipment and to assist in mitigating further losses.
  14. Stevedore and Terminal Damage – the investigation and survey of damage to vessels, terminal equipment, containers, cargo, cargo hoses, etc. that is alleged to have occurred as the result of handling the equipment, cargo, etc.

Container Surveys

  1. Container Surveys – condition and cleanliness for on/off-hire as per IICL5 rules.
  2. Sea Containers – CSC condition survey with IICL-certified inspectors.
  3. Container Cleanliness and Condition Survey – for general suitability to load bulk agricultural or food products. IMS originally created and drafted the inspection criteria and guidelines covering containers for bulk Malt, and these criteria and guidelines have been widely recognized and adopted as the standard in the industry.
  4. Container Cargo Surveys – IMS works with shippers, consignees, insurers and shipping lines to provide a comprehensive range of cargo surveys and inspections. We specialise in providing on-site representation for most major container lines and for a number of major railways. These services include cargo damage surveys, pre-shipment inspections, advice in loss-control techniques, and container inspections. We can also assist in mitigating damage loss, arranging salvage sales, and in the disposal of damaged goods.
  5. Container Inspections – as well as surveys of damaged containerised cargo, IMS provides stowage, securing, tallying and stuffing inspections of containerised cargo as well as container condition and damage inspections in accordance with owners’ requirements and international standards.
  6. IMDG Surveys – IMS provides surveys for compliance, packaging, stowage and marking/labelling for the shipment of dangerous goods, including radioactive materials.

Cargo Quantity and Quality

  1. Quantity – the determination of the quantity of both dry and liquid bulk cargoes loaded or discharged by draft survey or tank measurement or other means.
  2. Quality – verification by representative sampling and testing of the samples, or by other means, that a cargo meets specific parameters.
  3. Cargo Measurement – the physical cubic measurement of a particular cargo to determine freight payable and pre-planning stowage.