Robin A. LaMaire

Mr. LaMaire has 35+ years of experience with commercial diving and small watercraft support program management. He is very experienced with day-to-day operations involving divers, tenders, dive supervisors, boats, boat captains, deckhands, and their job equipment. He has overseen dive crews and a fleet of small watercraft boats (inshore and offshore), from their logistics to the associated safety plans. Those plans include compliance with commercial safety regulations enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the United States Coast Guard (USCG).
Mr. LaMaire’s senior management oversight extends across the country. He has supervised crew mobilization and operations in dozens of coastal waters and ports, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, San Diego, San Francisco, Hawaii, and the general Gulf of Mexico. He works with all types of merchant vessels, tugs, barges, military boats/ships, etc., and is the current owner of four USCG certified crew boats.
Mr. LaMaire has extensive experience implementing emergency procedures on a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week basis, for diving operations that include underwater repairs and maintenance services for port entities, private clients, military assets, and other government agencies (local, state, and federal). His supervising expertise ensures the successful execution of general boating and diving services, including sea launches , crew boat charter, hull cleaning and propeller polishings, lip-type seal change, repairs, surveys and video inspections, and salvage work (including derelict vessel removal and disposal).

Todd Turrell, P.E.

Todd Turrell is an Ocean Engineer, licensed in the State of Florida, with over thirty years experience in design and permitting for marine and land development and preservation in southwest Florida, the Florida Keys, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. In addition to practical and cost effective planning of waterfront projects, he offers innovative and realistic solutions to environmental issues. He is an expert on local and regional regulatory issues and has long standing collaborative relationships with agency personnel, which creates an outstanding success rate in project permittability.

Mr. Turrell currently leads a team that has completed the permitting and construction management of thousands of yacht slips and has extensive experience in large yacht marinas. He has a high level of expertise for marina planning and construction management in the Caribbean basin & the Bahamas, which includes engineering structural components of docking systems (floating or fixed), bulkhead plans, dredging, utilities & marina amenities. He has researched the world’s yacht fleet and stays current on evolving yacht trends, with extensive experience in the highly specialized area of marina & yacht utilities including electrical services, planning, design and proper utilities construction techniques.

Captain Stephen Richter

Captain Stephen Richter presently has over three decades of experience as a Master Mariner and pilot.  A graduate of SUNY Maritime College, Captain Richter has sailed on and piloted every type of vessel from large container and tank ships to smaller tug & barges.  He is licensed to pilot in nearly all waters between Philadelphia and Boston as well as St. Croix in the USVI and various other ports. Captain Richter actively pilots vessels on the Delaware River, New York Harbor, and the Hudson River.

Capt. Richter has been engaged as an expert on cases ranging from personal water craft, recreational boats and kayak incidents to claims involving the largest cruise ships, tank ships and container vessels. His unique areas of expertise include wake, wave, and surge damage and the relationship between pilots and a ship’s masters and crew. He is experienced in cases involving dock damages, personal injuries, Jones act claims, accidents with loss of life and all manners of vessel incidents.

Captain Benjamin Sheaffer III

Captain Ben Sheaffer has over 35 years of boat repair, building and manufacturing experience. He comes from a merchant marine background and received his ordinary seaman’s documents at the age of fifteen while working with St.Phillip’s Towing and Gulf Coast Transit Towing. He then sailed with Exxon shipping for almost ten years. He has accumulated a breadth of knowledge regarding boat design, structural integrity, maintenance and repair.

His shop, Sheaffer Marine Inc., is renowned for handling quality structural and cosmetic fiberglass repairs, boat manufacturer warranty claims, and insurance claims, as well as installation of accessories, electronics and steering and fuel systems. Sheaffer Marine has also been manufacturing its own all-composite construction sport-fishing boat for close to twenty years. Capt. Sheaffer provides forensic litigation and expert witness services pertaining to boat repair, building, design, structural integrity, and manufacturing, as well as seamanship and boating.

Captain craig thomas

Captain Craig Thomas has over forty years of experience in the Marine Industry since graduating from the State University of New York Maritime College. He has a rare comprehensive combination of knowledge and expertise, having served in numerous high-level seagoing positions as well as shore-side senior management. His seagoing experience is up to and including unlimited Master.
His shore-side management has involved positions in the U.S. and internationally for various types of shipping operations in London, Melbourne, Australia, Geneva, Switzerland, and Gibraltar.

His range of expertise encompasses U.S. and international oil shipping, experience with tanker, oil terminal and refinery operations, terminal and offshore supply/support operations, chartering, oil spill response, and bunkering industries. He currently provides Flag State Inspection services on behalf of the Malta, Marshall Island, Liberia, and Cayman Island. Additionally, he serves as a Pollution Safety Advisor for Valero Oil Company.  

Captain Scott Brown

Captain Scott Brown has spent over twenty years working in the maritime industry, with hands-on experience in the fields of commercial shipping and the safety training of marine crews. Additionally, he has expertise in the repair of both power and sailboats, as well as the safe operation, repair, and navigation of commercial vessels. He has been involved in every aspect of towing operations in shipyards, heavy marine construction, dredging, and commercial diving projects. He has also overseen the maintenance and movement of commercial ships in dry dock. 

He provides forensic litigation support and expert witness services pertaining to marine crew training, commercial boat maintenance and repair, and the safe operating protocols and practices of tug & barge operations. 

Craig starns

Mr. Craig Starns comes from a lifetime background of marine activity. He was raised aboard an 80 ft LOA offshore wood motor yacht converted from a U.S. Coast Guard cutter. Mr. Starns has been captain and engineer on numerous private and charter yachts, small passenger vessels, offshore oil industry vessels, and research vessels. He has specialized in providing marine surveying and consulting services for owners, operators, charterers, insurers, lenders, builders, and litigants of yachts and small craft throughout Florida and internationally. He has provided loss control marine survey services to major marine insurance underwriters and vessel appraisal marine survey services to major marine lending institutions. 

Mr. Starns provides forensic litigation support and expert witness services pertaining to marine surveying, insurance, vessel building, appraisal, and technical marine documentation.