What Departments and Areas of Expertise Does CWA International Have?

Updated

CWA International is a technical consultancy that investigates loss and damage incidents and analyses claims, primarily for clients in international trade, shipping, insurance, reinsurance, and their legal counterparts. According to the company, it has operated for more than 45 years. Its work is organised into seven departments, each covering a distinct category of commodities, assets, or incident types.

The Seven Departments

Department What it covers
Fire & Explosion Forensic investigation and analysis of fire and explosion incidents, carried out by combustion specialists
Food & Agricultural Commodities High-volume commodities stored and shipped in bulk, plus the handling and shipment of fresh and frozen produce
Forensic Data Analysis & IT Forensic analysis of big data, and the design and use of bespoke database software
Marine & Ports Investigation of marine casualties, ship and cargo damage incidents, and analysis of claims
Metals & Minerals Metals smelting and manufacture, minerals processing, treatment, storage, and marine transportation
Oil, Gas & Chemicals Contamination and quality issues, oil loss investigations, and operational audits of marine tankers, gas carriers, oil storage terminals, and refinery plant
Risk, Safety & Environmental Technical risk assessment, risk management studies, safety and loss prevention studies, and environmental impact assessments

How the Departments Fit Together

The departments are not isolated silos. A single incident can draw on several of them at once. For example, a fire aboard a bulk carrier may require the Fire & Explosion team to determine the cause, the Marine & Ports team to assess hull and cargo damage, and the Metals & Minerals or Food & Agricultural Commodities team to judge whether the cargo is still usable. The Forensic Data Analysis & IT department supports this kind of work by analysing large datasets and building custom database tools.

Services Alongside the Departments

CWA also lists three service lines that cut across all departments:

  • Experts – technical specialists who can be assigned to a case.
  • Live attendance – attendance at the scene or on site while an incident is ongoing.
  • Post incident – investigation and analysis after an incident has occurred.
  • Expert witness – providing expert evidence, presumably in disputes or legal proceedings.

Offices

CWA lists a London office and a Singapore office, and its published contact number is +44 (0) 20 7242 8444, with 24/7 availability indicated.

Choosing the Right Department

If you are trying to work out who to contact, match your problem to the department rather than the commodity alone:

  • Damage or contamination of a bulk or perishable cargo → Food & Agricultural Commodities.
  • Contamination, quality, or oil loss on a tanker, terminal, or refinery → Oil, Gas & Chemicals.
  • Smelting, processing, storage, or shipment of metals and minerals → Metals & Minerals.
  • A fire or explosion → Fire & Explosion.
  • A marine casualty or ship/cargo damage → Marine & Ports.
  • Large or messy datasets, or a need for a custom database → Forensic Data Analysis & IT.
  • Risk assessment, safety studies, or environmental impact → Risk, Safety & Environmental.

Where an incident spans several of these, CWA's structure allows more than one department to be involved in the same case.