Opportunity to Learn Marine Appraising Aboard the Queen Mary, March 21-23, 2019

By Sharon Reed

LONG BEACH, CA — All Appraisers Aboard! Marine professionals–both commercial and yacht–and non-marine professionals interested in the marine appraisal profession may want to come aboard the legendary Queen Mary to attend the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) Marine Survey course on March 21-23, 2019. Permanently docked in Long Beach, CA, the RMS Queen Mary is a retired British ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967. Currently the opulent 1,109 foot, 81+K ton ship serves as a museum, hotel and restaurant venue.

Lead instructor Norman F. Laskay developed the comprehensive 24-hour Marine Survey course. An Accredited Senior Appraiser of commercial marine equipment, Laskay is active with the ASA’s International Machinery and Technical Specialties Committee. Laskay is of Counsel at Dufour, Laskay & Strouse, Inc., an organization of worldwide marine appraisers, surveyors and consultants.

In past years ASA’s Marine Survey course (ME-208) has been conducted at various locations in the U.S., including in San Francisco, Norfolk, New Orleans and Baltimore–and overseas in Russia and Australia. This is the second time that the course was been offered aboard the Queen Mary.

ASA asked Laskay to tell us a little about this upcoming exciting course opportunity on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA.

Norman F. Laskay, ASA

ASA: Please provide us with an overview of the Marine Survey course that will be held on March 21-23, 2019.

Laskay: “The course is over three days with the last day, Saturday, reserved for a field trip, course review, and an optional exam. The course was written with all appraisers in mind, and it has been taken by ASA appraisers in everything from ‘Gems and Jewelry’ to ‘Real Property.’ Some have taken it just to learn more about the marine industry, while others have had an interest in extending their appraisal practice into marine assets. And among the attendees are many from banks and leasing companies, along with marine surveyors who want to ‘up their game’ and learn how to perform Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) and court approved appraisals. While much of the course is for the novice with little or no marine experience, the covering of the three approaches of value as the marine industry sees it, the sample problems, and report format is very helpful for the experienced marine surveyor. Also, the ‘show and tell’ section where we go over dozens of slides helps in the important task of asset identification. You can’t decide on replacement cost or comparable sales if you don’t understand what is comparable.”

ASA: Why is the Queen Mary an ideal location to hold the course?

Laskay: Using the Queen Mary as a school room is just both a fun and practical thing. While much around us on the vessel is classic antique, the basic facts of ship construction are before us every day and the Long Beach port area provides some great possibilities for the field trip. While a field trip is not guaranteed, we have been lucky almost every year to make arrangements with some sort of working vessel. Since we are looking at working vessels, and the marine industry works 24/7, several times our ‘tour’ had to go to work!”

ASA: What types of industry professionals would most benefit from taking the course?

Laskay: As I noted previously, the course was written for those with no marine experience but has attracted those with a great deal of experience. This makes for good networking and an enhanced learning experience. It can be a pleasant and entertaining way to collect Continuing Education (CE) hours.”

ASA: Is the course for both commercial and yacht appraisals?

Laskay: The course covers both commercial and yacht appraisal with sample problems for each. It is interesting to teach a course where one points out it is all about the money generated (commercial vessels) and then go on to point out that other people will invest $200,000 to have an asset that may have a market value of $50,000 (yachts).”

ASA: Do you focus on how to prepare an appraisal report?

Laskay: “Sections of the course cover what should be in a marine appraisal report to satisfy USPAP, where to find data you need, different report formats, and a sample commercial and sample yacht appraisal. This is to help those who might be interested in writing such appraisals and for people, like lenders, so that they can recognize what information they should want in a marine asset appraisal.”

To find out more about ASA’s Marine Survey course (ME208-000), click here. Registration is now open and spaces are limited.

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