A different perspective. A leaner operation. The same capability.
In the seventeenth century, Tortuga was the most notorious harbour in the Caribbean.
A base for independent operators who were faster, bolder and more agile than the great trading fleets of the age — not because they were reckless, but because they weren't weighed down by the institutional machinery that made the large ships slow.
They got results through skill, nerve and ingenuity. Some called them buccaneers. Others, privateers or pirates — independent operators who roamed the Caribbean throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. They could read the waters differently, move when others deliberated, and commit fully because there was no committee to answer to.
The major players in any field tend to recycle the same senior teams across the same engagements, producing the same analysis dressed in different covers. Seniority becomes a brand rather than a guarantee. The partner who wins the work is rarely the person who does it.
Here, that isn't possible. Every engagement is handled by the same person — with nearly four decades of frontline experience. A different perspective. A leaner operation. A focus on bringing and being the best to every assignment.
The name felt appropriate.
Tortuga, 17th Century — where independent operators outmanoeuvred the establishment
What we do
Every engagement is delivered by the same person — the most credentialled individual in the room, on every call, every deliverable, every time. No junior staff. No recycled templates. No commercial incentive to expand scope beyond what you actually need.
Over two decades of work for loss adjusters, brokers, insurers, and reinsurers across the most complex transport incidents the market has seen. Full-spectrum coverage: cause analysis, damage assessment, reinstatement optioneering, OEM engagement, and business interruption — always with a single objective: minimising the cost and duration of the loss.
Safety case authorship, review, and independent assurance across complex rail infrastructure and rolling stock projects. ALARP reasoning. Structured hazard management. RSSB Engineering Acceptance signatory work. RAIB investigation support. Industry best practice guidance developed for HMRI. This practice has contributed to the standards against which others are assessed.
Analytical depth that previously required a team, delivered with the accountability of a single senior expert. AI accelerates research, standards navigation, document synthesis, and cost validation. Engineering judgement governs every output. Described specifically and credibly — because what this actually means in practice is worth understanding.
Rail litigation, regulatory proceedings, inquests, and international arbitration. Preparation of technical evidence to the standard required by legal process. Independent, analytically rigorous, and structured to withstand challenge from technically informed counsel. Instructed directly by legal teams and insurers.
Seven years as Rail Business Specialist for the UK Department for International Trade. Major project delivery across the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, South America, Africa, and South East Asia. The ability to navigate multiple regulatory regimes, map standards equivalences across jurisdictions, and engage at ministerial and board level — demonstrated, not claimed.
Nearly four decades embedded in every layer of the railway industry — infrastructure, rolling stock, signalling, operations, safety, and standards. Not accumulated at arm's length through report-writing, but through direct involvement at the operational sharp end of major projects, live incidents, and decisions that carried real consequence. Clients don't just receive a deliverable — they receive the accumulated judgement of a career spent inside the industry, applied directly to their problem.
Master & Commander
Academic rigour applied to what the work demands. Three master's degrees, each earned in service of a different dimension of the practice.
The technical foundation. Analytical method, systems thinking, and the structured approach to complex engineering problems that underpins every engagement.
Scope, programme, risk, and cost. The discipline of delivering outcomes — not just advice — at scale and across jurisdictions, from Jubilee Line Extension to NEOM.
Multi-national teams. Ministerial engagement. Independent judgement under pressure. Leading programmes that carried real consequence, for clients who required more than a report.
Experience
A practice spanning five continents and two decades. These are representative engagements — each handled directly, each carrying real consequence.
A collision between a laden iron ore train and an empty return working on the sole freight link between mine and export port. Operations suspended; mine-to-port production halted. Damage assessment, reinstatement programme review, fleet and infrastructure capacity modelling, and catch-up output analysis against deteriorating conditions compounded by subsequent incidents.
Significant vehicle and infrastructure damage, service suspension, and regulatory proceedings following a metro fire. Instructed as Expert Witness. Independent cause analysis, damage assessment, review of the reinstatement and enhancement programme, and preparation of technical evidence for regulatory purposes. Assessment of proposed safety improvements as conditions of reinstatement.
Lead Technical Advisor to loss adjusters following a significant fire aboard a heavy goods vehicle shuttle. Detailed damage assessment across a large number of unique vehicles, evaluation of reparation and reinstatement options, and development of agreed repair strategies with the manufacturer. Assessment methods developed specifically for a unique fleet operating in a unique infrastructure environment.
A head-on collision between metro trains on an urban rapid transit system. Independent vehicle damage assessment, direct engagement with the original equipment manufacturer on reinstatement options, critical assessment of competing repair proposals, and development of an agreed strategy protecting insurer interests while meeting operator requirements for timely return to service.
Extensive flood damage following exceptional rainfall. Multiple site surveys to verify and quantify loss across rolling stock, trackwork, stations, and systems infrastructure. Independent review of the operator's reinstatement programme and cost submissions. Substantial business interruption assessment on a system yet to reach operational maturity.
A serious incident at a major high-speed passenger attraction requiring immediate closure and regulatory intervention. Independent safety engineering assessment across a system where the underlying principles — vehicle dynamics, structural integrity, restraint systems, and safety case methodology — translate directly from railway practice. Independent cause analysis, assessment of reinstatement and enhancement works, verification of technical adequacy and cost reasonableness, and a substantial business interruption component.
Safety engineering expertise does not respect sector boundaries, and neither does this practice. Where the physics is the same, the analysis is the same — regardless of whether the vehicle runs on steel rails or a purpose-built track.
Independent technical advisory on the cause of freight train derailments at major UK ports. Event sequence analysis, assessment of infrastructure and vehicle factors, and AI-assisted identification of the precise standards framework in force at the time of each incident. Rapid assessment of previous incidents involving similar vehicles and operating conditions, cross-referencing applicable requirements against documented practices. Detailed cost assessment and report preparation in support of robust claims.
The AI Dimension
The term “AI-enhanced” risks becoming meaningless through overuse. This is a precise account of what AI does — and does not do — in this practice.
Research & Standards Navigation
Identifying precisely which standards were in force at the time of a loss, assessing compliance, mapping regulatory equivalence across jurisdictions. For a recent port derailment, AI identified the applicable framework and flagged specific clauses within hours. The assessment of what that meant in legal terms remained entirely human.
Document Synthesis
Major losses generate volumes of documentation. AI assists with organisation and initial synthesis — manufacturer submissions, maintenance records, investigation reports, financial claims data. Every output is reviewed, amended, and owned entirely by the senior engineer. No AI output leaves this practice without that scrutiny.
Cost Validation
Current market pricing for labour, materials, and specialist services across international markets. For a recent port infrastructure engagement, AI provided current trackwork rates enabling rapid validation of the operator's reinstatement submission. Whether those rates were applicable — and whether the scope was reasonable — remained a matter of professional judgement.
What AI does not do
It does not provide engineering judgement. It does not assess whether an ALARP argument is adequate. It does not evaluate whether a manufacturer's damage assessment is inflated, or whether a cause analysis is technically sound. It does not prepare expert witness evidence. It does not carry professional indemnity insurance.
All of those things are done by a Chartered Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers with nearly four decades of frontline experience.
The analytical depth of a major firm's specialist team. The accountability and continuity of a single senior expert.
Principal
MSc CEng FIMechE MIRSE
Nearly four decades in railway engineering. The full arc: apprentice fitter and machinist to Chartered Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Not a theoretical career — a practical one, spent at the operational sharp end of major projects, live incidents, and consequential decisions.
The insurance and loss advisory practice has run for over twenty years, across every category of rail and guided transport infrastructure, on five continents. Tortuga Rail Limited was established as the formal vehicle for independent consultancy in December 2018.
From an engineering apprenticeship as a fitter/machinist to senior project and infrastructure roles on the Jubilee Line Extension (£600m programme) and Central Line, through consultancy positions at Parsons Brinckerhoff and Mouchel — where the first major international insurance loss engagement began with the Bangkok Metro head-on collision in 2004 — to seven years as the UK Government's senior Rail Business Specialist, engaging at ministerial level, to numerous project roles on Dubai Waterfront, NEOM, Riyadh Metro, Doha Metro, Docklands Light Railway, London Underground, amongst many others. A career built inside the industry, not around it.
A Note on IndependenceThis practice accepts a limited number of engagements at any time. The proposition — that every client gets the most experienced person on every piece of work — cannot be honoured if the practice is overcommitted. Prospective clients should expect a direct conversation about fit before any instruction is accepted. The advice you receive carries no stake in the project outcome and no relationship with contractors or manufacturers that could compromise objectivity.
Contact
Every enquiry is handled personally. If an engagement looks like a good fit, you'll hear back the same day.
mike@tortugarail.com