We began as one person in Fortaleza in 1981 — a typewriter, a fax line, and a habit of answering the phone.
Picolo & Associados is a marine, offshore, and cargo surveying firm. Four decades on, we are an employee-owned, second-generation practice with offices across South and North America, and correspondents to the International Group P&I Clubs, many H&M underwriters, cargo interests, and Marine Warranty principals.
What hasn’t changed is the discipline. We go where casualties happen, we look closely at what went wrong, and we tell our principals exactly what we found — in plain language, on time, and on the record.
Founded by Luis Kazuao Kumasaka with a typewriter and a fax line. The Northeast office still operates today, now under Antonio Paulo Bastos.
Salvador Picolo opens the Rio office alongside Brazil’s largest insurance market. Rio remains the firm’s headquarters.
Antonio Carlos Rodrigues joins; Santos opens as the firm’s dry-bulk and container hub — the gateway to Brazil’s container traffic.
An affiliated North American office opens, extending Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean coverage to every major U.S. port.
Employee-owned, second-generation. Correspondents to the International Group P&I Clubs, H&M underwriters, and shipowners across the Americas. Same name on the door. Same number to call.
Tell us the vessel, the port, and the problem. A surveyor will be on the way.