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Observater Surveys and Services Group · Maputo · Mozambique
Our bunker surveyors in Maputo attend every fuel event a vessel has: bunker quantity surveys at the stem, on-hire and off-hire ROB surveys, intermediate soundings, bunker shortage investigations, and MARPOL sampling, with who attends, when, and on what basis confirmed in writing before work begins.
Get a Surveyor Moving Email the InstructionThe fuel level is froth, not fuel. Air pumped into the delivery line makes the sounding read high. Only an enforced settling time and a re-sounding show what the barge actually delivered, while it is still alongside.
A few degrees are worth tonnes. Temperature and density set the correction that turns volume into paid-for weight. We measure both ourselves rather than reading them off the note.
The charter ends and the fuel argument begins. On-hire and off-hire ROB figures set who pays for what remains on board. Independent soundings at both ends turn the settlement into arithmetic.
Maputo tests the fuel account its own way. Vessels stem at Maputo at the berth and at anchorage, and every stem is one of the largest single payments the ship makes in port. One independent surveyor on deck is the difference between paying for what was received and paying for what the paperwork says.
One matter at a port rarely travels alone. Our desks below stand at the same quay, on the same instruction line — choose the unit your matter needs.
Our highly trained bunker surveyors carry out all types of bunker surveys, bunker quantity surveys, and marine fuel inspections at Maputo Port, Mozambique, through the group’s own company in Mozambique and its stationed surveyors: stems, on-hire and off-hire ROB, intermediate soundings, redelivery, shortage and consumption investigations, and MARPOL sampling, on all fuel grades, at the berth and by launch at anchorage. Also see: cargo surveyors in Maputo and marine surveyors in Maputo.
A bunker quantity survey at Maputo puts an independent surveyor on your side of the manifold for the whole stem: tanks sounded on both the receiving vessel and the barge before pumping starts and after it ends, temperatures taken with our own calibrated instruments, densities checked against the delivery note, and observed volumes corrected to standard volume at 15°C under the ASTM tables. Where the figures do not hold, the letter of protest is drafted and issued during the attendance, while the barge is still alongside and the evidence still exists.
On-hire and off-hire bunker surveys fix the fuel account at the two moments a charter pays for it: fuel, diesel, and lubes sounded independently, trim and list corrections applied from the vessel’s own tables, unpumpables separated, and the ROB certified with the working attached. When the numbers refuse to meet, or fuel disappears faster than the engines burn it, our shortage and consumption investigations reconstruct the account from soundings, logs, delivery notes, and samples, and where concealment is suspected, an investigative survey physically traces the piping and checks non-nominated spaces.
Stem attendance at Maputo runs to the same standard: the barge gauged before and after, the shore figure reconciled, and samples drawn at the manifold, sealed, and split so a later laboratory question already has its answer waiting.
Fuel quality disputes are won on the sample, and the sample is only as good as its chain of custody. Our surveyors witness the continuous drip sample at the manifold, then seal, label, and document it on the bunker delivery note, so the vessel holds the legal armor a Port State Control inspection or a quality dispute demands. Where off-specification fuel must come off, de-bunkering is supervised and measured with the same discipline as a delivery.
Named surveyor, scope in writing. Before anything starts you know who attends, when, and exactly what they will do, on paper.
The fee agreed first. The fee is put in writing before work begins, so the decision is made with the numbers in front of you.
One interest per matter. If we act for the other side in your dispute, we tell you and decline. Independence is the product.
Work starts on your go-ahead. Nothing begins until you confirm in writing, findings reach you first, and we answer 24/7.
“The surveyor held the stem for settling and the re-sounding proved the shortfall.”Charterer, Maputo
“Off-hire ROB corrected the trim calculation. Both sides signed one figure.”Vessel operator, Maputo
“Density from the sample did not match the note. The protest was issued before the barge let go.”Bunker buyer, Maputo
Attendance is arranged on instruction through the group’s own company in Mozambique and its stationed surveyors: send the vessel, the terminal or anchorage, and the stem size, and who attends, when, and on what basis is confirmed in writing before work begins.
The fee depends on the scope: the service, the stem size, and the attendances needed. Scope and fee come back in writing, and one prevented short delivery typically covers many surveys.
Tank soundings on the vessel and the barge, temperatures and densities on calibrated instruments, correction to 15°C, verification against the bunker delivery note, and a report with the calculations attached, with a letter of protest issued where the figures do not hold.
Yes: the fuel account is reconstructed from soundings, logs, delivery notes, and samples, and suspected concealment is investigated physically. The earlier we attend, the more evidence survives.
Rarely from theft alone. Aerated fuel reading taller than it stands — the cappuccino effect — a density declared warmer than the delivery, and line and manifold contents left uncounted: each shaves tonnes on paper. Independent soundings before and after, with temperature and density verified, close every one of those doors at once.
Observater Surveys and Services Group. Our bunker surveyors attend at Maputo Port, Mozambique through the group’s own presence at the port — instructed by email, confirmed in writing, and reporting to the instructing party first.
On scope, plainly quoted: describe the vessel, the cargo or operation, and the timing, and the desk returns the surveyor’s name, the scope, and the fee in writing before anyone boards. Nothing begins until the figure is agreed.
Tanks are sounded independently before and after, temperature and density verified against the delivery documents, samples sealed and split at the manifold, and the certified figure issued with the calculation shown — so the invoice is settled on measurement, not on trust.
Evidence is cheap while it exists, and priceless once it is gone
The receiver has paid before the loss appears. The shipper argues from documents after sailing. The owner and the charterer settle against each other’s numbers, the club pays what the evidence supports, and the bank lends against cargo it never sees. Whichever side of the file you are on, send the details, and the surveyor’s name, the attendance time, and the fee reach you in writing before anything begins. One interest per matter: your appointment is exclusive, and the findings come to you first.
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Observater Surveys and Services Group · ops@observater.com · All attendances are performed under our standard terms of business, available on request. Also see: Cargo Surveyors in Maputo · Marine Surveyors in Maputo · Bunker Surveyors in Maputo · Africa Bunker Survey Experts · Africa coverage.
From the Observater Desk
Whatever the vessel question, the cargo below has its own: outturn against the manifest, tally at the hook, condition as found, and the claims file that follows. The cargo desk at Maputo answers it from the same practice, one instruction covering both.
Cargo surveyors in MaputoInstruct the desk
When precision matters, Observater Surveys Group is your Partner of Choice
© 2026 Observater Surveys and Services Group. All rights reserved.