Maritime-Casualty Evidence Command Leader

The mandate

The marine director stepped aside after a serious collision and early review found voyage data, bridge recordings, shore messages, cargo plans, maintenance records and management instructions held under inconsistent custody. Investigators, insurers and counsel issue overlapping requests while shipmanagers still need to decide immediate fleet action. A temporary executive must preserve original evidence and implement incident-independent safety controls without constructing a parallel investigation or coaching witnesses.

The casualty leaves a seven-day mobilisation window and a fixed six-month tenure; statutory and independent investigations continue under their own authority. For the first 14 days, the executive secures original evidence, establishes one request channel and identifies fleet action that cannot await final causation. Representative vessels test those controls through two normal operating cycles. In month six, remaining custody gaps close, open safety actions transfer and the permanent marine leader directs the next casualty-response exercise.

No calendar date alone ends this evidence command. Each relevant source must show owner, original, copy, access, retention and disclosure status; external requests must use the controlled channel; all 34 vessels must complete incident-independent action review; and two operating cycles must show the controls in ordinary work. Outstanding investigator requests, counsel-held privilege decisions, fleet limitations, crew-welfare actions, disputed evidence and the exercised response protocol then pass to the permanent marine leader.

The interim may preserve and restrict access to company evidence, direct fleet recovery staff, impose temporary internal operating limits and approve urgent action up to GBP 2 million. Witness interviews for statutory purpose, privilege, liability admission, claim settlement, disciplinary findings, vessel detention and disclosure outside delegation remain with authorities, counsel or board. The leader cannot alter originals, direct testimony or determine collision cause.

Legal defence, casualty reconstruction, salvage, public communications, claims adjustment and long-term navigation-system replacement are outside scope. The executive will provide controlled evidence and operating inputs but will not become investigator or expert witness. Separating preservation from advocacy is essential to a credible handover and safe fleet action.

Why this seat is open

A serious casualty created an immediate evidence and fleet-action burden while the serving marine director became conflicted and stepped aside. Existing functions hold fragments but cannot arbitrate custody and operational consequence. The board has delegated a temporary recovery seat expressly separated from causation and liability work.

What you will own

• Secure voyage, bridge, shore, cargo, technical, crewing and management evidence with original, access and retention provenance.
• Establish one external request and disclosure route while preserving authority, confidentiality and counsel-held privilege decisions.
• Identify incident-independent fleet controls whose delay would create avoidable recurrence risk before causation is final.
• Direct implementation and normal-work verification across all 34 vessels without coaching witnesses or altering records.
• Reconcile investigator, insurer, flag, class and manager requests and escalate conflicts to their authorised owners.
• Run one casualty-response exercise testing preservation, crew welfare, fleet action, communications and decision boundaries.
• Induct the successor through open requests, limitations, disputed sources, implemented controls and the full custody register.

Candidate qualifications

• Held marine executive authority through a serious collision, grounding, fire or comparable merchant-vessel casualty.
• Has preserved electronic, shipboard and shore evidence while multiple authorities, insurers and counsel sought access.
• Understands voyage data, bridge records, cargo, maintenance, crew welfare and shore instruction evidence operationally.
• Can act on incident-independent safety learning without implying cause, liability, discipline or witness conclusion.
• Maintained strict separation among company recovery, statutory investigation, legal privilege and insurance adjustment.
• Completed permanent handover with open investigations and fleet restrictions transparently documented across multiple jurisdictions.

Non-negotiables

• Available in London within seven days and able to attend vessels or managers across four regions.
• Brings direct casualty command; document management or legal discovery alone is insufficient.
• Accepts investigator, counsel, insurer, flag, class, witness and board authority boundaries.
• Will disclose owner, manager, insurer, law-firm, surveyor and claims-party interests before appointment.

1. 49 words maximum. Describe how you preserved casualty evidence while urgent fleet action proceeded in parallel.
2. 49 words maximum. Confirm your London start date and the most serious casualty you commanded.
3. 49 words maximum. Which safety action can proceed without asserting a collision’s cause?