Ports & Harbours Consulting

Technical Due Diligence

ABL is an experienced and trusted partner in technical due diligence and advisory services to support clients in evaluating risks and opportunities in port-related investments.

We combine our significant operational experience with in-house multi-disciplined engineering expertise to provide a comprehensive offering designed to drive more accurate decision-making in financial transactions. Our services can be provided at a single project phase or to accompany your asset through life for advanced risk mitigation.

Maritime Studies  

Our team is experienced in providing a wide range of maritime studies, supporting design decisions in port development, enhanced operational safety and efficiency, and marine casualty investigations. Our marine studies cover, but are not limited to:  

• Ship manoeuvring simulations  
• Operational simulation and business interruption – with BRAEVURA (ABL’s in-house software) 
• Dynamic mooring analysis  

The team blends the use of intuitive software solutions with their own unique operational expertise to provide expert evaluations and studies that you can trust.  

Civil Engineering

Our in-house maritime civil engineering team is experienced in a wide range of consultancy and advisory services, which add value to development, risk management and loss management scenarios.  

These include:  

• Development advisory  
• Owner’s engineering advisory 
• Feasibility studies and technical due diligence  
• Concept design  
• Master planning and business case development, including:
  • CAPEX engineering 
  • Marine licensing and consent management and advisory  
  • Project management services  
  • Procurement advisory and contract drafting 
  • Contract management 

Geotechnical Studies 

ABL’s parent company, ABL Group, includes an in-house centre of excellence in multidisciplined geoscience to support energy and oceans.  

This expertise includes: 

• Site characterisation and ground modelling development  
• 3D modelling, calculations and GIS analysis to support dredging operations
• Sediment transportation modelling 

Metocean Studies

ABL provides expert services in metocean and coastal engineering, further enhanced by the numerical modelling services of its water management consultancy branch, Hidromod.  

Our comprehensive technical offering drives significant value in port development projects, risk mitigation in port operations, as well as providing key analyses in fixed and floating object damage investigation.  

Services include:  

• Desktop studies, including uptime and downtime analysis  
• Metocean services for port and marina design  
• Wave and hydrodynamic modelling  
• Morphology and sediment transport assessment  
• Seabed evolution modelling  
• Tropical cyclone and tsunamic wave modelling  
• Real-time modelling and visualisation of hydrological forecasting with AquaSafe – software by Hidromod 

Renewable Port Infrastructure 

Renewable port infrastructure services integrate early-stage port development with ABL’s wider service portfolio in ports and terminal consulting. Drawing on our in-house expertise in offshore wind assets and development, we can provide a complete technical and commercial evaluation of a port’s feasibility to support future offshore wind projects, both bottom-fixed and floating. 

Loss Prevention 

Surveying and managing risk in marine assets and operations are at the heart of what we do at ABL. Our ports and harbours team brings together technical expertise and practical experience with market-leading insights in marine assurance and risk to provide a comprehensive service to help you reduce risk across the port value chain.  

Services include:  

• Navigational risk assessment (Quantitative and Probabilistic) 
• Port and Terminal Management  
• Port assurance audit and due diligence  
• National port safety legislation audits  
• Safety management system (SMS) 
• ISPS Plans and Audits  
• Marine terminal management assessments
• Port Marine Personnel Competency Framework 

Loss Management

With our legacy in The Salvage Association, we bring expertise that you can trust in loss management for fixed and floating object damage. Our global network enables us to provide a 24/7 casualty response service worldwide, mobilising the relevant expert on-site as quickly as possible, via local resources.  

We provide services and advice for emergencies from oil spills to wreck salvage, develop emergency response plans and procedures, and conduct root cause analyses for port claims, casualties and dock damage incidents.  

Our marine casualty investigation team employs a range of state-of-the-art software tools to facilitate accurate analyses, including QUICKVIEW and MADAS, AB IMPACT and remote navigational audits. 

Port Decarbonisation & Emissions Consulting 

A recognised industry partner in sustainability and energy transition engineering and consulting, our expertise in port decarbonisation is focused on the following:  

• Emissions consulting with emiTr – a digital platform for greener ports  
• Renewable energy integration for greener ports, including cold ironing facilities  
• Electrification  
• Vessel design from concept, FEED to detailed 

Port Marine Personnel Competency Framework 

Ensure efficient operations and support global trade with our port marine personnel competency framework. Our integrated Asset Integrity Management (AIM) and Maritime teams deliver unparalleled expertise to address industry challenges and ensure personnel competency aligns with international standards. 

Our specialists employ a variety of methods to create competency frameworks, including an extensive portfolio of training courses, competency assessments, and the development of comprehensive job competency profiles for port marine personnel overseeing marine and navigation safety. These job competency profiles address current industry challenges and meet rigorous international standards.