Based in Africa, where the cargo is.
Based in Africa, Victor Surveys is a leader in maritime cargo surveying services. Our surveyors strategically cover major African and Middle East ports to ensure control of the quality, quantity and condition of your cargo throughout transport.
Romain Seaf, CC BY-SA 2.0 · placeholder
The one-stop solution for all your cargo claims.
Founded by Blue Recovery Solutions in 2024, Victor Surveys complements its cargo recovery services by offering marine cargo surveys to its clients in cases of loss or damage. It is the same house from the survey through to the recovery, which is why the evidence that decides a claim is gathered by people who already know what the claim will have to prove.
Our mission
- Providing trusted and detailed surveys.
- Supporting recovery services with accurate inspections.
- Helping our customers reduce risk and optimise their supply chain.
- An integrated service for complete management, from cargo survey to recovery.
The people who actually attend.
Victor Surveys was founded by a small team of marine specialists to meet the growing demand for cargo inspections across Africa. What decides whether a report is argued or accepted is who wrote it — so here they are.
Yves PANGOP
Senior Claims Manager11+ years
More than eleven years in marine cargo survey, claims and recovery, specialising in the inspection, assessment and reporting of cargo damage. His expertise spans dry bulk, perishable and containerised goods, with strong skills in loss prevention and claims documentation.
Capt. Athanase ATANGANA
Senior Claims Handler & Technical Surveyor17+ years
An ex-mariner with more than seventeen years in marine surveying across Africa. He specialises in cargo surveys, salvage operations, and loading and discharge supervision for bulk grains and breakbulk, and also conducts hull & machinery and bunker surveys, with a strong focus on compliance and safety procedures.
Sandra TANIA
Claims & Operations Admin
Sandra oversees mission dispatch within the survey team and supervises all files, so that assignments are coordinated and handled without a gap between the instruction and the surveyor.
Abdel NJIASSE
Claims Handler6 years
Holder of a Master’s degree in Transport Law and six years conducting cargo claims surveys and preparing damage reports. He is skilled at coordinating with insurers, adjusters and shipping companies to resolve disputes, and provides expert evaluations of both pre-shipment and post-shipment cargo conditions.
Ulrich TCHIAPI
Claims Handler9 years
An MBA graduate in Transport and Logistics with strong expertise in cargo damage investigations and risk management, particularly for fragile and perishable goods. Nine years of surveying experience before joining the team, with a background in insurance claims and loss adjustment.
Christian SOP
Junior Claims Handler3 years
Three years in marine cargo claims management, focused on small and mid-sized cargo surveys, with experience in documentation, claims follow-up and case management.
How a damage file is run.
Six steps, in this order, every time. The third is the one most files lose money on, because a letter of protest served late is a right of recourse quietly gone.
-
01
New assignment
The instruction lands. Location, cargo, and what has gone wrong.
-
02
A surveyor is promptly instructed
From the network nearest the cargo, with the attendance confirmed back to you.
-
03
LOI & LOP issued to all stakeholders
Letter of indemnity and letter of protest, served on everyone the file touches, so time bars and rights of recourse are not quietly lost.
-
04
The survey is carried out
On the quay, in the shed, or in the container — condition recorded before anything moves.
-
05
Preliminary information and documents are sent
Photographs and the key facts, while they still change what you can do about them.
-
06
Investigation of cause and extent
What happened, how far it went, and what the evidence will actually support.
What we hold ourselves to.
Published, because a number you can hold us to is worth more than a promise you cannot.
2–24h
We respond to a new assignment and instruct our surveyor within two to twenty-four hours.
24–48h
You get an update on the appraisal, with photographs and the key information, within twenty-four to forty-eight hours of it.
72h
A detailed preliminary report within seventy-two hours of the survey assessment.
45days
Expected turnover time per mission. The final report is issued after the loss mitigation or destruction operation.
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. The ports are marked on the globe below.
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. Six island states in that set — Cabo Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Comoros, Mauritius, Seychelles and Bahrain — are smaller than the coastline data can draw, so they carry a dot instead.
Our milestones.
Where the group came from, and where it is going. The 2028 line is a plan, stated as one.
2020
Blue Recovery Solutions
Our sister company Blue Recovery Solutions is established to provide cargo claims recovery services — the beginning of the group’s work in the maritime industry.
2024
Victor Surveys launched
Victor Surveys is launched to deliver accurate and reliable marine cargo survey services across Africa, so that a loss can be surveyed and recovered by the same house.
2028
Salvage sales
The plan is to extend the offering by launching a salvage sales company — one house from survey through recovery to sale.
Why choose us.
We assist traders — importers and exporters — maritime industry players, insurers and logistics providers.
A surveyor is worth what his independence is worth.
We are owned by nobody in the chain we inspect. Instruct us, and the finding you get is the finding we found.