Marine scientific specialists OSIL (Ocean Scientific International Ltd.) recently carried out an underwater video survey of the damage to the hull of the stricken container ship MSC Napoli off the Devon coast. The survey, which involved the use of a remote operated vehicle (ROV) and a specialist dive team, enabled experts acting for the ship and cargo owners to assess the damage to the hull. Subsequently the ship has been split in two for disposal.

OSIL offer a range of services as experts in marine science and have acted, on many occasions, as experts in cases associated with losses of oil cargoes, dry cargo spoilage, environmental issues, shipwrecks and damage to ships. Clients include marine lawyers, insurance companies, oil companies, petroleum consultants, test-houses and loss adjusters. Other projects have included an underwater video survey of a shipwreck lying in 70 metres of water off the UK coast where over three hours of detailed video footage of specific parts of the wreck were produced. This helped towards a successful conclusion of a substantial loss claim on behalf of the client. In another case legal history was made when scientists from OSIL provided expert evidence for a case involving an excess of free water in an oil cargo. Using salinity measurement data together with the results from experiments, they were able to provide critical information on the type and origin of the free water.