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LEGAL AND EXPERT WITNESS
AMOG’s legal and expert witness services includes matters such as legal cases, insurance claims, and government and coronial enquiries. We also conduct investigations on behalf of owners and operators to ascertain incident causes and identify rectification measures.
Our principals have significant experience in preparing briefs and assisting clients in legal proceedings and our leading edge analysis techniques can provide the evidence to support your case. Owing to the specialised nature of much of the company’s work, our industry credentials, and expertise, AMOG’s principal engineers are consistently engaged to undertake failure or incident investigations, provide expert opinions, and appear as an expert witness in various proceedings. These matters range from legal cases, to insurance claims, contract disputes, and Government and Coronial Inquiries.
Largely, the areas of expertise drawn upon for legal expert witness work includes:
- Independent Project Technical and Management Review
- Project Completion, Handover and Variation Claims Issues
- Failure investigation
- Risk and reliability analysis
- Fire and Blast Engineering
- Hydrostatics and Hydrodynamics
- Designing Mooring and Riser Systems for Floating Production Systems
- Design Verification and Audits
- Structural Analysis and Design
- Naval Architecture
Visit our list of project experience for more information.
AMOG can assist designers, manufacturers, operators and regulators in the mining and offshore sectors. We have extensive experience with structural design and analysis, design verification and audits, inspections (including Risk Based Inspection (RBI) techniques), integrity management, system safety engineering, and experience with expert witness engagements for a variety of legal cases involving complex forensic engineering and failure investigations.
MINING
AMOG has experience in the mining sector management of plant, equipment, and support structure integrity through all stages of the plant life cycle. We undertake advanced Structural Engineering analysis of assets and equipment ranging from bulk material handling machines, conveyors, tunnels, tanks, silos, pipelines and support structures for any plant or equipment equipment. Using state of the art analytical packages, AMOG can design and assess complex structures and components requiring non-lineal solutions. Our services in this area include:
- Large displacement and staged Finite Element Analysis (FEA) with linear and non linear material and geometry
- Fracture, Fatigue, and Joint Cracking Analysis to AS 4100, BS 7608, EN 1993-1-9, DNVGL- PR-0001 and more
- Assessment of existing Structures to AS ISO 13822, including civil structures and foundations > Reliability, Strength and Robustness to AS 1170, AS 5104, ISO 2394, AS 4324, AS 4100, AS 3990, AS 3600 and more
- Structural Design Audits of Mobile equipment for bulk materials to AS4324 Appendix K
- Pushover, Criticality and Stability Analysis
- Load Duty Assessments
- Risk evaluation and assessments
- Plant Integrity Reviews (PIRs)
- Failure Investigation / Root Cause Analysis
OFFSHORE ENERGY
In the offshore oil and gas sector, AMOG as extensive experience and string industry credentials in designing mooring and riser systems for floating production systems, design verification and audits, interpretation of Metocean data, model testing, structural design, hydrodynamics, naval architecture, and system safety engineering, enables AMOG to undertake complex failure investigations. Over the years, AMOG Consulting has been engaged as an expert witness for a variety of engineering legal cases. AMOG can be engaged as an expert witness and undertake investigations relating to:
- Premature Failures from Extreme Events, Fatigue or Mechanical Damage
- Failure of both Offshore and Onshore Structures
- Fluid Loading and Motion Analysis of Fixed, Compliant and Floating Structures
- Hydrodynamics of Multi-Body Systems, including Interaction Effects
- Design and Fatigue Analysis of Offshore Structures and Onshore Building and Structures
- Failure of Mooring Systems, Riser Systems, and Offshore Pipelines
- Failure of Ship Structures:
- Hull Design and Sea Keeping
- Strength and Fatigue Endurance of Ship Structures
- Hydrostatic Stability
- Cargo Securing Systems
- Damage to Ship Hulls and Structures due to Ship Collision
Our principals have significant experience in preparing briefs and assisting clients in legal proceedings and our leading edge analysis techniques can provide the evidence to support your case. To request detailed CVs, please contact us directly.
Dr Paul Sincock
AMOG Associate and expert technical advisor, and former AMOG Technical Director
BSC(Hons) DipOceanEng MSc PhD FIEAust MAICD
Dr Sincock has over 37 years’ experience in naval architecture, hydrodynamics, offshore engineering, and bulk materials handling (mining) machinery, gained consulting on projects in the North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, South East Asia, South America, Africa, India, the Gulf of Arabia and Australia, for a wide range of clients.
Dr Sincock has considerable expertise in forensic failure investigation and expert witness work. Studies in these areas have ranged in scope from problems involving mining industry machinery and process equipment, offshore structures (fixed and floating) and high-speed military vessels, to commercial shipping and harbour installations.
In these failure investigations and expert witness studies, Dr Sincock has investigated issues including: design errors, shortcomings in design approach and deficiencies in quality assurance, fabrication and installation errors, structural failures due to overloading and fatigue damage, crew injuries due to vessel motions, inappropriate operating practices, failure to correctly assess environmental conditions and resulting loads, and performance and variation disputes. He has taken the lead in preparing expert reports arising from these investigations, taken part in expert conclaves and arbitrations proceedings, worked as a consultant expert to counsel, and provided expert testimony in court. Dr Sincock has extensive experience in providing technical liaison with clients and their legal representatives.
Dr Sincock undertook his postgraduate studies as a research fellow at University College London, under the professorship of R Eatock Taylor. His PhD research concentrated on numerical modelling of the non-linear motions of compliant and floating offshore vessels and platforms, and he undertook keynote studies for the UK Health and Safety Executive.
Information and contact details for Dr Paul Sincock can also be found in the construction practice area of Lexology (formerly Who’s Who Legal).
Andrew Thomson
Executive Director
BEng FIE(Aust) MRINA MAICD
Mr Thomson is an Executive Director with AMOG and has 35+ years of Project Management and Engineering experience covering the Maritime, Defence and Infrastructure sectors. During his time with AMOG, as a Principal Engineer, Head of Marine Structures Group, Director, and General Manager, Mr Thomson has gained extensive experience in providing expert report and testimony on a number of matters, and supervising engineering teams undertaking expert investigations for matters involving complex technical issues.
Originally trained and qualified as Sea Going Marine Engineer in the Merchant Navy, prior to joining AMOG Andrew served as an Engineering Officer on a variety of commercial vessels prior to returning to university and completing a Bachelor of Engineering. Post University, Mr Thomson’s career has also included working within the Australian Defence Shipbuilding industry, where he was the Engineering Manager for both the ANZAC Class Frigate program and the delivery of teh New Zealand Project Protector fleet of ships. Mr Thomson also worked for the Transfield-Obayashi Joint Venture on the Melbourne CityLink Project as the Design Manager and then Project Manager for the Electronic Tolling and Traffic Management Systems and Mechanical & Electrical Systems of the Melbourne Citylink Project. These roles have included the management of the schedule and technical interfaces associated with projects.
Mr Thomson has taken the lead on a number of expert matters and has conducted a number of expert witness studies and authored a number of expert reports. Mr Thomson has participated in expert conclaves with other experts and provided expert testimony in the Supreme Court of Victoria as well as the International Court of Arbitration in both Kuala Lumpur and London.
Stuart Wales
Executive Director & Chief Technology Officer
BE(Hons) MRINA
Mr Stuart Wales has almost 30 years experience in the offshore industry covering a range of areas including integrity management, subsea development, deep water installation and technology development.
With a solid practical experience base including leading edge deepwater installation works in Brazil and Indonesia and supervising multivessel installation campaigns off Australia Mr Wales has managed a diverse range of projects in the offshore sector in both Australia and South East Asia since joining AMOG in 2007. Leveraging this broad range of expertise Mr Wales has also provided support to clients during legal action, including expert witness at the International Court of Arbitration.
Tim Lee
Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer
BA BE(Hons) CEng FRINA MIEAust NER
Mr Tim Lee joined AMOG 2005 and has a background in civil maritime, marine engineering, pipeline engineering and hydrodynamics in both the commercial and Defence sectors. His expertise includes protection of sub-sea pipelines and cables, design and analysis of heavy weather mooring systems and mooring and berthing systems for floating dock operations, design of marine inlets and outfall, and design of concrete mattress protection systems for ocean outfall pipelines. Mr. Lee also has experience in aspects of submarine manoeuvring, performing detailed analysis and modelling of emergency blowing recovery, acoustic signature management, and general submarine platform mechanical engineering analysis and product assurance.
Over his career, Mr Lee has developed expertise in forensic investigation and provision of expert advice, for tribunal hearings, insurance claims, and court proceedings He has presented evidence and been cross-examined as an expert witness.
Richard Shedlock
Principal Engineer & Assistant Chief Technology Officer
BSc(Civil)Hons DipWorkplaceInspection CPEng NER APEC Engineer
Mr Shedlock’s experience spans a broad range of sectors, across both commercial and domestic applications, and incorporates over 200 structural and civil projects spanning the petroleum (gas to liquid), petrochemical, mining, power generation, and heavy industrial sectors. As a design engineer, he has executed analysis, software development and programming, member and connection design, detailing reviews, scheduling, specifications, site co-ordination, and forensic investigation of failures, fabrication and construction defects.
In particular, Mr Shedlock has extensive experience in forensic investigation, and experience as a testifying expert in numerous cases of collapsed structures across international jurisdictions, both for private industry and legislators.
Mr Shedlock’s areas of specialisation includes the failure of connections and the processes associated with design and construction, and he has delivered international research papers on this and related topics.
Cherie Holland
Executive Director & Principal Engineer
BSc(MechEng) MSc(Mech Eng) FIEAust CPEng NER RPEQ
Mrs Holland joined AMOG in 2005 and was previously the Head of AMOG’s Safety and Risk Engineering Group. She specialises in expertise in technical analysis, system safety engineering, functional safety engineering and health hazard assessments. Prior to working for AMOG, Mrs Holland was employed in the aerospace industry in the USA.
Mrs Holland has particular proficiency in the technical aspects of functional and system safety engineering, including hazard identification, environmental and operational risk, use of Codes of Practice and Standards, and qualitative and quantitative risk assessments. She also acts in the capacity of specialist advisor and consultant for major hazard facilities and explosive ordnance risk management.
Christopher Carra
Executive Director & Principal Engineer
BSc BEng(Hons) MAppSci FRINA
Mr Carra is a leading practitioner in offshore energy, with extensive experience in the development of design criteria and concept engineering, through to detailed design of various aspects of offshore facilities, mooring systems and riser systems, as well as the dynamics and simulation of vessel based marine operations for installation.
Mr Carra has been regularly appointed by a range of operators as a technical advisor, has been recognised by the DeepStar JIP industry consortium as the primary author for the development of Mooring Integrity Guidelines (API-RP-2MIM), and has held senior positions with major corporations in both project engineering and strategic planning areas. Mr Carra has deep technical expertise and has provided expert opinion in a major AIAC arbitration.
Dr Hayden Marcollo
Executive Director & Principal Engineer
BSc BEng(Hons) PhD FSUT MIEAust CPEng MASME
Dr Marcollo has a PhD in offshore engineering, and held a postdoctoral research position at MIT, which included both physical and numerical modelling of offshore riser systems. Dr Marcollo has been at the forefront operating as a consultant in industry on a number of research intensive topics including Vortex-Induced Vibration, Wave Energy, Fatigue of slender structures and Underwater Noise propagation.
Dr Marcollo acted in an expert witness role in a 9-year legal case on the causation of a deepwater riser tower failure in the US; this involved many research programs, modelling and analysis, site inspections and being deposed in the Southern District Court of Texas. Other notable legal cases Dr Marcollo has been involved with include towed streamers in the ocean, compliant flexible structures, and fatigue of steel structures under varying and complex loading conditions.