History
Surveys in Belgium
Due to the fact that Mr. Willem BRANS had more than a decade experience as a Marine Surveyor in Antwerp prior to starting his own company in 1978, CONTINENTAL SURVEYS NV has been involved in most major claims in Belgium from the start.
Surveys include major fires (KATOENNATIE berth 1227 in 1996), dust explosions (Floreffe in 1991, EUROSILO Ghent in 1993), collisions on the River Scheldt (M/S ESSO BAYONNE/M/S LUBLIN, M/S WLADISLAW JAGIELLO/M/S ANA) as well as countless damage surveys on a wide variety of commodities.
These commodities include all types of steel products, forest products, grains and derivates, sugar, colonial products, chemicals (liquid or solid), plastics, cotton, coal, ores and concentrates, etc.
Although being a small country, Belgium has 3 major sea ports, viz: ANTWERP, GHENT and ZEEBRUGGE and numerous river ports. All are within a radius of 100 km from our strategically located office north of Antwerp.
Mr Willem BRANS is also regularly nominated by the Belgian Courts as a Cargo Surveyor in order to determine the cause and extent of damage or to investigate thefts during transit.
Surveys abroad
From the beginning CONTINENTAL SURVEYS NV has performed surveys around the world. To mention just a few during relative recent years:
| Year |
Place |
Subject |
| 1987 |
Las Palmas |
Damage to roller coaster during discharging. |
| 1988 |
New Orleans |
Salvage sale 8.000 T sugar and supervision during discharging |
| 1988 |
Beaumont, Texas |
Loading supervision steel wire rods |
| 1990 |
Forth Smith, Arkansas |
Discharging steel wire rods |
| 1992 |
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania |
Damage to sugar on board of a vessel |
| 1992 |
Maputo, Mozambique |
Damage to sugar during storage |
| 1995 |
Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
Damage to rice on board of a vessel |
| 1995 |
Nouakchott, Mauritania |
Damage to sugar on board of a vessel |
| 1996 |
Kampala, Uganda |
Inspection coffee warehouses, investigation theft coffee |
| 1996 |
Veracruz, Mexico |
Damage to sugar on board of a vessel |
| 1997 |
Beijing, China |
Damage to hot rolled steel plates |
| 1998 |
Montevideo, Uruguay |
Transhipment 24.000 Mt maize to another vessel following rudder damage to initial vessel. |
| 1999 |
Paranagua, Brazil |
Inspection of sugar loaded on sub-standard vessel. Supervision repairs to hatchcovers. |
| 2000 |
Port Said, Egypt |
Inspection sugar and coordinating legal efforts after seizure of 14.000 T sugar. |
| 2001 |
Manzanillo, Mexico |
Fire on board of a vessel loaded with chemicals. |
| 2002 |
San Francisco, USA |
Investigation theft computer parts |
Fact is that our attending Surveyors find themselves acting more as trouble shooters, and giving advice on loss prevention measures, etc. to parties concerned, in order to bring the matter to a good ending.
But also, numerous surveys are carried out in Europe, especially Holland and France, since we are located less than 90 km from major ports as Rotterdam, Flushing, Dunkirk, Calais and Le Havre.
Due to the fact that the Belgian Ports are mainly transit ports, surveys are performed at the end destinations of the shipments, over all of Europe. Due to the strategic location of Belgium in the approximate centre of Europe, the major industrial areas are just a few hours drive or flight away.
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