Pre-shipment survey
Condition, quantity and suitability for the intended voyage, recorded before the cargo leaves origin. Service 01 — Before it ships.
Romain Seaf, CC BY-SA 2.0 · placeholder
When you instruct one.
- The buyer, or the buyer's insurer, wants the goods seen before they are paid for or put on a ship.
- The cargo is high value, second-hand, or of a kind that routinely arrives disputed.
- A letter of credit or a policy warranty requires an independent inspection at origin.
- You want a baseline that predates any argument, because nobody can dispute a record made before the dispute.
What we do.
- 01Verify identity and quantity. Marks, numbers, counts and weights against the commercial documents, itemised rather than summarised.
- 02Examine condition. The goods as they are at origin: pre-existing damage, wear, moisture, corrosion, and anything already latent.
- 03Assess suitability for the voyage. Whether these goods, packed this way, will survive this route in this season.
- 04Photograph everything. Referenced to the tally, so an image can be tied to a line rather than to a folder.
- 05Note what we could not verify. Sealed packages not opened, stock not presented, access refused. The limits belong in the report.
What you receive.
- A pre-shipment survey report with findings and photographic record.
- A quantity and marks reconciliation against the documents.
- A plain statement of condition at origin, to be set against condition on arrival.
- Any recommendation on packing or securing, before it is too late to act on it.
What we need from you
- Commercial invoice and packing list
- The proforma or purchase contract, where quantity matters
- Intended route, vessel and expected shipment date
- Site contact and access arrangements at origin
What we hold ourselves to
- 2–24hA surveyor instructed from the network nearest the cargo.
- 24–48hYour update on the appraisal, with photographs and the key information.
- 72hThe detailed preliminary report, after the survey assessment.
- 45 daysExpected 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.
Instruct this surveyThey trust us already
Insurers · brokers · traders · logistics providers
26 marks, as listed in the Victor Surveys company profile. They are shown in black and white and return to colour on hover. Written consent to display a client’s mark is worth confirming before launch — several of these houses require it.
Instruct a pre-shipment survey.
Fill this in and it sends a complete instruction, already set to this service, straight to the claims desk.
Usually instructed with.
One instruction can carry several of these. They are separate headings, not separate visits.
