We go and look at the cargo.
Independent surveyors and claims managers, based in Africa and covering the Middle East — instructed by insurers and brokers, and by the importers and exporters whose cargo is on the quay.
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A claim is decided before anyone writes a letter.
It is decided by what was recorded at the packing bench, at the ship's rail and at the shed door on arrival. We attend all three — anywhere from Tanger Med to Cape Town, at any hour.
Three people pick up the phone.
They do not describe the same problem, and they do not need the same first answer. All three reach the same surveyor.
Insurers
“I need attendance at a port I have never seen, and a report the file can stand on.”
Marine hull and cargo, professional indemnity and public liability. Survey, cause, quantum and liability position — written to international reporting standards, and recovery where you instruct it.
Instruct a surveyImporters & exporters
“My goods landed short and wet. Who do I call, and have I already lost?”
Call before the cargo is moved. We attend, record what is actually there, and tell you plainly whether you have a claim — insured or not, and whether or not we end up running it.
Call the claims deskBrokers
“My client is on the line and I need a surveyor on that quay today.”
One instruction, one file reference, one person to chase, anywhere on the continent. We report to you, and we tell you when nothing has moved as readily as when it has.
Instruct for a clientFreight forwarders, warehouse keepers and terminal operators we meet on almost every file — as parties to it, never as clients whose interests we hold. That is what keeps the report worth reading.
The cheapest survey is the one taken before the doors close.
Condition and packing recorded at origin is what later decides whether damage travelled with the cargo or was loaded into it.
01 / 03 Abidjan
Romain Seaf, CC BY-SA 2.0 · placeholder
One instruction covers the survey and everything after it.
Insured or uninsured, we run the file end to end — and where the evidence supports a recourse, we pursue it.
Astrid Groeneveld, CC BY-SA 3.0 · placeholder
They trust us already
Insurers · brokers · traders · logistics providers
26 marks, as listed in the Victor Surveys company profile. Black and white here, colour on hover. Written consent to display a client's mark is worth confirming before launch — several of these houses require it.
Two offices. A continent of surveyors.
We have cultivated a network of skilled and certified surveyors throughout Africa and the Middle East, so that service is not interrupted by distance. Our partners provide meticulous and accurate survey data, and they are our representatives on the ground.
Southern & East Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa
Southern and East Africa desk. Claims handling, third-party administration and underwriter reporting.
1 Wedgewood Link RdBryanston
Johannesburg, 2191
South Africa
+27 10 140 5760
Central & West Africa
Douala, Cameroon
Central and West Africa desk. Francophone and anglophone ports, and the inland corridors beyond them.
Rue Nya NzuimantoLogpom, Douala
Cameroon
+237 233 47 25 96
Damage & warehouse surveys
54African countries + 6GCC countries
Our surveyor network covers all 54 African countries and the 6 countries of the Middle East (GCC). These surveyors are our on-the-ground representatives.
Discharge surveys
We specialise in cargo discharge surveys and supervision at key ports throughout West and East Africa. Our services extend to the following locations:
Where we attend
Discharge surveys at these ports; damage and warehouse surveys anywhere in the tinted area. Pick one and the globe turns to it.
The tinted landmass is the claim, drawn from it: all 54 African countries and the 6 GCC countries. Elsewhere, attendance is mobilised through the surveyor network and confirmed against each instruction.
Four points at which you hear from us.
Nothing in between them is a black box. A survey is also worth exactly what the surveyor's independence is worth — and Victor Surveys is owned by nobody in the chain it inspects.
Instruction received
By email or on the duty line, at any hour. We come back with a file reference, the surveyor assigned, and what we still need from you.
Attendance arranged
The surveyor is mobilised to the quay, the airport, the warehouse or the inland site. Where access has to be arranged first, you hear it before we go.
Preliminary advice
First findings and photographs while the cargo is still there to be inspected, so you can reserve, mitigate or protect a recourse in time.
Report and recovery
Cause, extent and quantum, to international reporting standards — and, where instructed, recovery from the party responsible.
2–24h
A surveyor instructed, from the network nearest the cargo.
24–48h
Your update on the appraisal, with photographs and the key information.
72h
The detailed preliminary report, after the survey assessment.
45days
Expected turnover per mission. The final report follows the loss mitigation or destruction operation.
Attendance on site depends on distance to the port and on terminal and customs access, so that is confirmed on your file rather than promised as one number for every port on the continent.
Tell us where the cargo is.
Call for anything urgent. Otherwise this sends a complete instruction, with a file reference, straight to the claims desk.
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