Marine appraisers to hold course aboard Queen Mary

The following is text of a news release from the American Society of Appraisers (ASA):

(LONG BEACH, Calif.) — Marine professionals, both yacht and commercial, and non-marine professionals interested in the marine appraisal profession may want to come aboard the legendary Queen Mary to attend the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) marine survey course on March 21-23.  Permanently docked in Long Beach, RMS Queen Mary is a retired British ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967. Currently the opulent 1,109-foot, 81,000-ton ship serves as a museum, hotel and restaurant venue.

Lead instructor Norman F. Laskay developed the comprehensive 24-credit-hour marine survey course. An accredited senior appraiser of commercial marine equipment, Laskay is active with the ASA’s International Machinery and Technical Specialties Committee. Laskay is a counsel at Dufour, Laskay & Strouse Inc., an organization of worldwide marine appraisers, surveyors and consultants.

In past years ASA’s marine survey course (ME-208) has been conducted at various locations in the U.S., including in San Francisco, Norfolk, New Orleans and Baltimore, and overseas in Russia and Australia. This is the second time that the course was been offered aboard Queen Mary.

“Using the Queen Mary as a school room is both a fun and practical thing. While much around us on the vessel is classic antique, the basic facts of ship construction are before us every day and the Long Beach port area provides some great possibilities for field trips,” Laskay said.

“The course was written with all appraisers in mind,” Laskay said. “Some have taken it just to learn more about the marine industry, while others have had an interest in extending their appraisal practice into marine assets. And among the attendees are many from banks and leasing companies, along with marine surveyors who want to ‘up their game’ and learn how to perform Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) and court-approved appraisals.”

“While much of the course is for the novice with little or no marine experience, the covering of the three approaches of value as the marine industry sees it, the sample problems, and report format is very helpful for the experienced marine surveyor. Also, the ‘show and tell’ section where we go over dozens of slides of marine assets, including construction phases, helps in the important task of asset identification. You can’t decide on replacement cost or comparable sales if you don’t understand what is comparable,” he added.

Topics covered in the course include:

• Marine equipment and its special language;
• The marine industry and function of marine surveyors and appraisers;
• The three approaches to value as they apply to commercial and yacht appraisal;
• Identification of marine equipment and systems, both commercial and yacht;
• Preparing an appraisal report;
• Different types of bluewater and brownwater equipment.

To register for or find out more about ASA’s Marine Survey course (ME208-000) visit www.appraisers.org/Education/View-Course?CourseID=110. Registration is now open and spaces are limited.

By Professional Mariner Staff