Marine Accident Investigation

Why Consulting an Expert Witness Marine Can Be Beneficial

Oil drilling is a dangerous messy business, and sometimes accidents happen. Human error, faulty equipment and natural disasters can lead to dangerous, sometimes deadly accidents. In the event of oil spill cleanup it is helpful to have an expert witness who can help find out who is responsible and understand the legal, logistical, and environmental effects of such terrible accidents.

While it is better to work on preventing such an accident as they can be major and ones such as the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989, and the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 cost millions of dollars in damage and did incalculable damage to wildlife and environment in the area. The oil spill cleanup for these disasters took months, possibly years and were widely reported in the media.

In the case of a marine accident investigation, no matter how small, having an expert on hand to help testify and examine evidence can help any legal issue and cleanup go much smoother. A marine expert witness such as Mr. Stewart at Stewart technology associates is trained to understand the technical aspects involving barges, structural damage to mooring systems and jack-ups, vessel sinking and grounding, and anchor failures among many other technical aspects of marine systems. With his experience in Naval Architecture, Civil Technology, Soil Mechanics, Hydrodynamics, Structural Technology, and Offshore Structures he is able to provide testimony for and consult on the causes and results of a variety of types of marines accidents, both large and small.

Having an expert marine witness is important at all stages of a marine accident investigation. One of the biggest benefits for all parties involved in the accident is that not only can the expert help determine who and what is at fault and should be considered the responsible party, the expert witness can help decide whether or not the case should be taken to court and can help to provide testimony to ensure that the case is able to be settled out of course. In the event that the case is settled out of court, he or she can also help to ensure that the court case is settled quickly and fairly and that both parties are satisfied with the results of the case as much as possible.

Most importantly an expert witness acts as an impartial judge in the case of a marine accident investigation. While the expert may be hired by one side or another, it is their responsibility to make sure that all the evidence is weighed fairly, and that they have no prejudices going into the case. If they do not weight things accurately and impartially their reputation becomes tarnished and damaged, and they are can no longer be considered a reliable expert witness. This is another reason why having an expert witness can be valuable. Many cases become drawn out because of high stakes and emotions, and an expert marine witness can prevent this.