Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement for Ships and Yachts at Antalya

Inspection services for ships at Antalya

Each service has its own page with the method, the class requirements and what the report contains.

Where gauging happens in and around Antalya

At the commercial port, cargo ships are gauged alongside during their stay. Holds are measured as discharge frees them, hatch covers and coamings are checked from the deck, and ballast tanks are entered once the crew have emptied and ventilated them and the master has issued the permit. Cruise ships offer very limited windows, so work there is restricted to tenders, service craft and defined spaces that the ship's technical team releases. Access is through the port's security procedures and arranged via the ship's agent.

Yachts and smaller commercial vessels are gauged at marinas, repair quays or on slipways along the coast, where the yard or marina sets the rules and the vessel can be supported or hauled out. A steel yacht with a hull survey in prospect can be measured over several days, including tanks and keel structure when accessible. For ships at anchor in the gulf, launches are arranged through the agent and used when the sea allows, with the most valuable readings taken first.

• Antalya commercial port cargo berths — hold, hatch cover and coaming gauging on coasters and small bulk carriers during cargo work
• Cruise terminal — hull and tank checks on tenders and service craft released by the ship's technical team
• Anchorage in the Gulf of Antalya — deck and ballast tank gauging on ships waiting for orders or berth, by launch when conditions allow
• Yacht yards and marinas along the coast — shell, tank and keel structure gauging on steel superyachts ahead of a refit or sale
• Repair quays and slipways — hull plating and piping checks on workboats, ferries and fishing vessels hauled out or alongside

Port state control and Mediterranean emissions rules at Antalya

Turkey is covered by the Mediterranean MoU on port state control, and ship safety and ports are administered by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure through the harbour masters. The cargo ships calling at Antalya are mostly smaller general cargo vessels whose structural condition varies, and recurring findings include wasted hatch covers, corroded coamings and deteriorated deck fittings. Cruise ships and large yachts have their own regulatory regimes, but the underlying question of hull steel condition remains the same for owners.

Antalya lies inside the Mediterranean sulphur emission control area, so ships burning high-sulphur fuel must run an exhaust gas cleaning system there, and the wash-water and overboard piping of those systems is a known source of thinning and leaks. Ships that go on to EU ports also face EU ETS reporting and, for those in scope, FuelEU Maritime obligations, and a valid Inventory of Hazardous Materials is required for ships calling at EU ports under the Ship Recycling Regulation. Owners often use the gauging results to support docking and refit decisions.

Since 1 May 2025 the whole Mediterranean has been a sulphur emission control area, so ships calling at Antalya burn 0.10% sulphur fuel or run a scrubber. Scrubber wash-water piping, the overboard discharge and the hull penetration around it corrode quickly in service and are worth adding to the gauging scope at every docking.

How a thickness measurement job runs at Antalya

The sequence for a thickness measurement job at Antalya is short and written down, so the yard, the surveyor and the superintendent know who arranges what.

Antalya has a major international airport with many direct connections, and the team normally flies in directly or connects through Istanbul, then travels by road to the port or the yard. The agent arranges gate passes, terminal safety briefings and launches for the anchorage, while yacht yards and marinas issue their own access, with crew lists and certificates sent ahead. A Turkish visa is needed for Indian passport holders, so we begin the application once a job is likely and keep the validity covering any delay.

• Send the vessel name or IMO number, ship type, class society, the survey due (annual, intermediate, renewal survey number, CAP or owner's condition survey), the port and dates, and the scope you expect.
• We confirm the scope against the class rules for that survey, prepare the thickness measurement plan with frame and section references, and say whether the measurement will be credited to a class survey.
• Mobilisation is planned around visa lead times and the vessel's schedule; the ship's agent arranges port access, and the yard or ship arranges staging, lighting, ventilation and gas-free certificates.
• Gauging with calibrated ultrasonic thickness gauges: through sound coatings only where the gauge's through-coating mode has been verified on a coated reference, otherwise on cleaned bare steel, with every reading tied to its frame, strake and location on the sketch.
• Readings are compared with original thicknesses as work proceeds; substantial and excessive corrosion and any cracks are reported to the attending surveyor and the superintendent the same day.
• The final report is issued on the class thickness-measurement formats with sketches, a summary of locations exceeding the allowable margins, piping tables where piping was in scope, and the gauge calibration and technician certificates.

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