Pre-Purchase Survey

You are about to spend a significant amount of money on a vessel you have looked at twice. The broker is helpful. The seller is motivated. The photographs are good. None of that tells you what is actually there.

That is what a pre-purchase survey is for.

I have spent decades at sea on tankers and cargo vessels. I know what a well-maintained ship looks and feels like when you walk onboard. I also know what deferred maintenance looks like when someone has cleaned the engine room the week before a sale. There is a difference. It is not always obvious. But it is always there if you know where to look.

What the Atlantic corridor changes

A pre-purchase survey on the Atlantic coast is not the same as one conducted in the Mediterranean.

Vessels operating off the Portuguese coast, the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, and down the West African corridor are exposed to more weather. The Atlantic swell is longer and heavier than anything the Mediterranean produces. Vessels working this corridor accumulate fatigue differently. The corrosion pattern is different. The wear on deck fittings, mooring equipment, and windlass gear is different. The paint systems take more punishment.

A surveyor who only knows sheltered-water vessels will miss things on an Atlantic-operated vessel. Not through incompetence. Through unfamiliarity. The tell-signs are different.

I know this coast. I have worked on vessels that run it. I know what the Atlantic does to steel, to seals, to equipment that was not designed for sustained heavy-weather operation. That context is part of every pre-purchase survey I conduct here.

What the survey covers

A pre-purchase survey is a physical inspection of the vessel. Not a review of paperwork. Not a conversation with the owner. I go onboard. I access everything I can access. I run everything that can be run. I document what I find in writing, with photographs.

The scope covers:

• Hull and structure. Topsides, decks, structural members, framing, tank tops where accessible. Signs of repair, deformation, corrosion, or fatigue. I pay particular attention to weld quality on older vessels and to any areas that show evidence of historical contact damage.
• Main engine and propulsion. Crankcase condition, exhaust temperatures, governor response, turbocharger, cooling systems, fuel system. I run the engine under load where possible. A vessel that only ever starts in port tells you very little. I want to see it working.
• Auxiliary machinery. Generators, compressors, pumps, steering gear. Each one is started and checked. Condition of belts, hoses, and electrical terminations. Switchboard condition.
• Deck machinery. Windlass, winches, cargo gear where fitted. Wire and chain condition. Brake band condition on the windlass is often ignored until it fails. I check it.
• Safety systems. Liferafts, EPIRBs, SARTs, firefighting systems, flares, lifejackets. Certification dates and physical condition. Equipment that looks compliant in a locker sometimes is not when you open the case.
• Bilges and bilge systems. Bilge pump operation, oil water separator condition, condition of bilge wells. Atlantic weather creates dynamic loads that find leaks that flat-water operation conceals.
• Underwater body. This requires either an in-water dive or a haul-out. Both are possible. For a vessel of commercial value, I recommend a haul-out. The condition of the hull plating below the waterline, the propeller, shaft, stern gland, anodes, and sea chests is critical. These items do not deteriorate evenly. They deteriorate at the points of greatest stress and least maintenance access.
• Documentation. Class certificates, statutory certificates, flag state documentation, registry papers, deferred deficiency lists, last dry-dock report, maintenance records. A vessel with clean certificates but dirty records is a vessel where someone has been managing paper instead of machinery.

The Portuguese flag and documentation picture

If you are buying a vessel registered in Portugal, you are buying into Portuguese flag state requirements. If the vessel is flagged elsewhere and berthed here, there are additional steps before you can re-flag or change registry.

This matters because documentation issues are not always visible in the survey itself. A vessel can be in reasonable physical condition and have a documentation situation that creates months of delay and legal cost before you can operate it the way you intend.

I include a documentation review in every pre-purchase survey. Not just what certificates exist, but what is expiring, what is deferred, what outstanding class conditions exist, and what the practical implications are for the buyer’s intended use of the vessel.

What happens after

You receive a written report within 48 hours of the inspection. It covers findings by system, with photographs, and a prioritised deficiency list that separates safety-critical items from maintenance items from cosmetic observations.

The report gives you three things.

First: the actual condition of the vessel. Not the seller’s version. The facts.

Second: a basis for negotiation. A documented deficiency list is not a problem. It is a tool. Buyers who come in with a survey report and a prioritised list of items regularly negotiate better outcomes than buyers who do not. The seller has to respond to documented facts. They do not have to respond to impressions.

Third: a decision point. If the vessel has structural problems that were not disclosed, or machinery condition that does not match the asking price, you have the information you need to walk away before you have committed. That option has a value that is impossible to calculate until you need it.

Where I work

I am based in Porto and cover the full Portuguese coast: Viana do Castelo, Leixões, Aveiro, Figueira da Foz, Peniche, Cascais, Setúbal, Sines, Portimão, and Faro.

For vessels in the Atlantic islands (Azores, Madeira, Canaries) or along the Spanish Atlantic coast, contact me and we will work out what makes sense. For vessels further afield in the Atlantic corridor, I can advise on the best approach and, where needed, recommend a qualified independent surveyor I trust.

If you have a vessel in mind, send me the details. Flag, type, age, approximate size, location. I will tell you what a survey would involve and what to expect from the process.