Consultant Master Mariner

MNI, Member of the Lloyd’s SCR Panel

work London

graeme.bowles@brookesbell.com

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Career Summary

Curriculum Vitae

Graeme Bowles joined Brookes Bell as Partner and Consultant Master Mariner in June 2011 with 26 years in the marine consultancy industry, following a career at sea.  He is an experienced Master Mariner with over 52 years in the shipping industry.  During his career he has encountered a wide range of different challenges and situations involving various ship and cargo types.  He was listed by Lloyd's Salvage Arbitration branch as Special Casualty Representative (SCR) in 2010 in recognition of his extensive salvage and casualty management experience.  This has included fires, explosions, collisions, groundings, sinkings and similar mishaps. His seagoing experience was mainly on chemical tankers.  The challenges associated with the handling of bulk liquid cargoes, including chemicals and vegetable oils, form the core of his cargo expertise.  He has written reports for and given expert evidence in litigation, arbitration and mediation in England, Scotland, The Netherlands, the USA and China.

Background

Professional Qualifications

• Master Mariner, MNI
• Dangerous Cargo Endorsements for: Crude Liquid Petroleum or Petroleum Products of Liquid Chemicals

Professional Associations

• Member of the Nautical Institute since 1985

Previous Employment History 

• C-Mar Consultants, Singapore.  Managing Consultant (2010-2011).
• BMT Marine & Offshore Surveyors Ltd. (formerly BMT Murray Fenton and BMT Edon Liddiard) - Director P&I and Legal Services.  Regional Director and more recently Regional Business Director, North West Europe - Senior Consulting Surveyor. (1997 – 2010)
• Morris Bowles & Associates.  Founder and partner (1990 - 1997)
• Edon Liddiard and Morris (1985 – 1990)

Sea-Going Employment

• Cadet through to Chief Officer on chemical and product tankers, with Panocean-Anco (1972 – 1985) 
• As Chief Officer on chemical, vegetable oil and product tankers trading world-wide with liquid bulk cargoes including petroleum products, chemicals, lube oils, molasses and vegetable oils.  Special responsibilities included cargo care; personnel safety and welfare; tank cleaning; cargo stowage; tank coating and ship maintenance. 

Surveying and Consultancy Experience

• Appointed as a member of the Lloyd’s SCR Panel by the SCOPIC - SCR Committee (from March 2010) - Special Casualty Representative with responsibilities for casualty management, monitoring and cost controlling operations on behalf of all insured interests
• Wide range of casualty management roles with different ship types and cargoes acting for various interested parties
• Preparing Expert Reports on a variety of matters relating to charter party disputes, cargo damages, speed and performance and personal injury claims. 
• Acting as Expert Witness in various Arbitration and High Court proceedings
• Attended and investigated various grounding, sinking and collision (fixed and floating objects) incidents for various interests including the following involving salvage operations:
  • MARINE HONOUR (assessing salvage costs – Singapore)
  • PUTERI MUTIARA SATU (collision with LNG terminal – South Korea)
  • AGIOS NIKOLAOS I (salvage after structural failure and flooding – Taiwan)
  • ZELEK STAR (salvage after grounding – Israel – SCR)
  • GOODFAITH (salvage after grounding - Greece - SCR)
  • INDEPENDENT (salvage and refloating – Wales)
  • MSC FLAMINIA (containership fire – Germany)
  • AQUAFORTUNE (lightering and refloating, Turkey)
  • CONMAR CAPE (salvage after grounding, Philippines - SCR) 
  • VALE BEIJING (structural collapse during loading)
  • LENTERA BANGSA (FSO cargo recovery following fire)
  • JOLLY AMARANTO (salvage after grounding, Egypt - SCR) 
  • KING DUCKLING (collision in Singapore)
  • GENCO LOIRE (coal fire in Singapore)
  • SIRIUS STAR (piracy damage off Fujairah)
  • MSC NAPOLI (managing beach clean-up and cargo onward shipment operations - UK)
  • PACIFIC ADVENTURER (collision off China)
  • AL SAMIDOON (grounding and oil pollution in Suez Canal)
  • SAN SEBASTIAN (explosion Red Sea)
  • CONTSHIP CHAMPION (container fire UK)
  • BULK GENOVA (grounding Suez Canal)
  • EMIN (grounding Pakistan)
  • MSC CARLA (broke in two off Canaries)
  • KAPITAN SAKHAROV (sunk off Iran, client representative for ROV survey)
  • MERAK S (coal explosion off Canaries)
  • NEW WORLD (collision and fire in Atlantic)
  • RAPANA (pump room explosion Netherlands)
• Acted as a Navigation and Marine Operations Expert Witness in Commercial Arbitrations, Mediations, Admiralty Court and High Court cases and Formal Investigations in England, Scotland, Netherlands, USA and China
• Attended and investigated several significant cargo damage incidents including bulk cargo damage, project cargo securing and collapse, loss of deck cargo, collapse of container stowage, chemical and vegetable oil contaminations, tanker pump room and cargo tank explosions, bulk cereal and wood pellet fires, coal explosions and fires
• Performed a wide range of vessel, cargo and port facility damage and condition surveys
• Investigating liquid cargo shortages across custody transfer interfaces, including on both ship and in shore terminals
• Advising IOPC Funds and ITOPF on salvage related matters, including assessment of associated costs