BMT Appoints Hittesh Gupta as Head of Casualty Investigation, Asia

BMT, a leading international multi-disciplinary engineering, science, and technology consultancy, today announced the appointment of Hittesh Gupta as Head of Casualty Investigation, Asia. This appointment comes as BMT looks to expand its office presence for Marine Surveys in Singapore and strengthen its marine consulting services hub position in Asia.

With over 23-years of experience in the shipping industry, Hittesh has a deep understanding of marine surveying having served on product and crude oil tankers and offshore oil & gas production units. He has worked extensively for underwriters and leading P&I Clubs undertaking casualty investigations across the full spectrum of vessels and provided assessments of their Cargo / Seaworthiness – Oil, Chemical, Gas tankers, Containers, General cargo, AHTV, FPSO, Jack-up rigs and Supply vessels.

Hittesh is also a Subject Matter Expert in container casualties taking an active role in emergency response, investigation, distressed cargo management and assisting in General Average. He has extensively handled container casualties resulting from Stow Collapses, Containership fires, Collisions and Grounding.

“I am excited to join BMT and look forward to developing the existing Marine survey side of the business locally in Singapore, focusing on Claims and Casualty Investigation.” said Hittesh Gupta.

“Singapore forms the maritime heart in Asia and sits at the center of a web of trade routes.  We intend to provide our clients with the same high-quality and timely specialist advice synonymous with BMT services worldwide,” he continued.

Through over 20 years of operations in the Asia Pacific region, BMT has been able to boost industrial collaboration and to see growth through maritime consulting opportunities.

A combination of robust demand, coupled with the extension of government incentives to these ancillary services, has contributed to the dynamic momentum of the entire industry – in Singapore alone, P&I, H&M and / or cargo premiums have served as catalyst factors to growing demand for marine surveys.

The increase in Asian trade in recent years has led to a corresponding rise in demand from ship and cargo owners for surveys. To tap into this growing market, an increasing number of marine surveyors, including BMT, are growing their Asian offices in Singapore, attracted by its stable and pro-business environment. 

“Having a full-service office in Singapore allows us to help existing global customers as they grow, and to attract new business opportunities to the world's premier maritime hub. More crucially, underpinning all of this is the stability that Singapore provides our global BMT business operations – thus empowering our people and partners to operate from a politically stable and well-regulated platform to transact business with both developed and developing markets in the Asia-Pacific region, which is leading the world in economic growth.” said Suba Sivandran, BMT Managing Director, Asia.

“Singapore is the perfect base to be a part of this future. For mature companies like BMT, the advantage we gain from being able to utilise our marine surveying network in Singapore and in the Asia Pacific market, the need to be close to the large, vibrant, domestic and international shipping community that resides in Singapore, and the credibility and kudos that it provides, is integral to our global offering.” said Managing Director of BMT’s Surveys business Dennis de Bruin.

For BMT’s de Bruin, all these components allow the business to provide “the best service possible” for its customers and industrial partners. He continued: “By continuing to grow our presence in Singapore, we can ensure that we do this for our South-east Asia membership. In addition, we want to continue to attract quality operators and new venture opportunities to our hub, which we believe will be enhanced by our continued presence in Singapore and will permit BMT to scale-up its business.”