Seema Cklen
Marine Surveyor

Engagement

How to get on the schedule.

Referral only

This is a one-person practice. The schedule is kept manageable on purpose — a surveyor who takes on too many jobs starts missing things, and missed things are what clients pay me not to miss.

New engagements are considered through existing client relationships, yard managers I've worked with for years, the small circle of brokers who know I'll walk away from the boat if the boat deserves it, and the handful of maritime attorneys who send damage and loss files my way.

If you were sent here by one of them, they know how to reach me on your behalf. If you weren't, ask the broker or the yard you're working with whether they know me — if they do, they'll make the introduction. If they don't, there are other good surveyors in the region who take cold work.

Current availability

Spring & early summer: fully booked. Haul-out slots have been committed since the winter.

Late summer: limited availability for pre-purchase work on vessels already identified and already yarded.

Fall: insurance renewals take priority. A few pre-purchase slots typically open in late October as the rush settles.

Winter: damage surveys, appraisals, expert-witness work, and report writing. Good time to reach out about next season's pre-purchase.

Before you ask a broker to make the introduction

  • Know the vessel: make, model, year, HIN (hull identification number) if you have it, state registration or documentation number.
  • Know the yard: haul-out has to be arranged, and not every yard has a lift appropriate for every hull. A 50-ton Travelift won't pick a 60-foot trawler.
  • Know your deadline: closing date, binder date, court date, underwriter deadline. Be honest — a week is not the same as ten days.
  • Know your scope: pre-purchase, insurance, damage, or appraisal. If you're not sure, the introducing party can help sort that out first.
  • Have the paperwork ready: documentation, prior surveys, recent invoices, prior insurance claim history. Every bit of it helps the report.

Fair warning

I will not survey a boat I've worked on as a rigger or mechanic in a prior life. I will not survey a boat I've already surveyed for the seller within the past three years. I will not survey a boat for a buyer whose broker has told them "you don't really need a survey, but if it makes you feel better." If any of that describes the situation, we're not the right match — and I'll say so in the first conversation rather than the fifth.