Neil spent 7 years sailing as a junior officer, up to and including chief officer on container vessels, before switching to reefer vessels, where he sailed as chief officer for a further 3.5 years (Chiquita's banana boats) before being promoted to Master.  Neil subsequently sailed for a summer on high-speed ferries to and from the Channel Islands then another 5 years as Master on reefer and container vessels.

Neil came ashore, working for the UK Club as Technical Advisor to the LP Department for a year before joining TMC Marine Consultants, where he investigated a range of marine casualties over a period of 6.5 years, offering expert advice in courts in the UK and US, as well as London arbitration and Admiralty Court.

Neil briefly went back to sea as Master for another 2 years, sailing on 300m container ships running between North Europe and Montreal, he experienced sailing in ice-bound river conditions and navigated in close proximity to sea ice, including icebergs and pack ice.  Neil was subsequently recruited to inspect ships as a Risk Profiler / Ship Inspector for the UK Club for a further year.  

Neil joined Brookes Bell as a Marine Consultant, initially based in Sidcup before transferring to Shanghai, where he stayed for 5 years.  Neil returned to the UK and continued with Brookes Bell until September 2023, when he took redundancy and started as a sole trading Marine Consultant.

During his time in marine consultancy, Neil has been involved with a diverse range of claims, etc. including but not limited to the following:

Navigation:

Vessel performance disputes

Grounding and wreck removal

Collision including assessment of the applicability of the Collision Regulations, and potential liability apportionment 

Dock damage

Routeing

Ice navigation and subsequent vessel damage/loss

Cargo:

Containers - loss of, damage to, fire, stowage and securing, and IMDG Code segregation 

Bulk / bagged agricultural commodities, and bulk fertiliser

Breakbulk cargoes - steel products, vehicles, machinery, architectural, and packaged 

Heavy lift - loading, securing, and planning 

Roro - cargo shift/damage Refrigerated - bulk and containerised

Problems with cargoes of scrap, including fire/heating

Other:

Ultrasonic hatch cover testing and inspection (Sherlog SDT/IMCS certificated)

Port safety disputes 

ISM issues Container inspections subsequent to explosion/fire

Neil also spent a year inspecting HK-flagged vessels in Europe for the Hong Kong Marine Department

Neil has also completed the Nautical Institute Navigation Assessor course.