Fishing Vessel and Cargo Ship Gauging at Boulogne-sur-Mer

Inspection services for ships at Boulogne-sur-Mer

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

Where vessels can be gauged at Boulogne-sur-Mer

The fish quays are the main working area. A trawler alongside between trips is generally clean and available, and the skipper can release fish holds, fuel and ballast tanks, and deck areas for gauging once the crew have ventilated them. Fishing vessels often carry modifications that do not match their original drawings, so we record the layout found on board and gauge to the owner's drawings where they exist. Repair berths and boatyards along the Liane handle fishing vessels and workboats, and readings taken beforehand help owners and yards fix the scope of the work.

The commercial quays suit larger and longer stays. Reefers and ro-ro units discharge to the processing district on a regular cycle, aggregate carriers and dredgers lie for loading or discharge, and general cargo ships come and go. Ships needing a full drydocking at deeper yards usually go to another port, and a gauging programme at Boulogne can be timed to produce the steel estimate before that decision. Anchorage outside the breakwaters is available for ships waiting for tide or berth, when sea state permits a launch.

• Fish quays — fish hold, tank and deck gauging on trawlers and netters between trips.
• Repair berths and boatyards on the Liane — hull and tank gauging before and during repair work on fishing vessels and workboats.
• Commercial quays — hatch cover, deck and tank gauging on reefers, ro-ro units and general cargo ships during cargo gaps.
• Aggregate and dredger berths — pump, discharge piping and hopper plating gauging between campaigns.
• Lay-by berths — extended condition gauging for pre-purchase or insurer surveys on vessels laid up.
• Roads outside the breakwaters — launch-assisted gauging of cleaned tanks on waiting ships in suitable weather.

French fishing vessel rules, port state control and the Strait

Port state control in France is exercised by the Centres de sécurité des navires of the Affaires maritimes administration, within the Paris MoU, and applies to foreign cargo ships calling at Boulogne. French-flag fishing vessels fall under national safety rules and are surveyed by the Affaires maritimes, with many boats unclassed. A gauging report is therefore usually requested by an owner, a buyer, a bank or an insurer and can be shown to the surveyor if asked, while classed vessels follow their society's reading format and extent.

Boulogne lies in the SECA part of the Channel, so ships that carry scrubbers use them on nearly every voyage. EU ship recycling rules require an Inventory of Hazardous Materials on ships above the size threshold, and the EU emissions trading scheme and FuelEU Maritime apply to the larger ships calling here. For owners of older trawlers and coasters, measured wastage is the evidence used to decide between a major refit, replacement and sale, and a thickness report is a straightforward way to put that decision on firm ground.

Ships trading to Boulogne-sur-Mer are inside a sulphur emission control area, where fuel must not exceed 0.10% sulphur unless an exhaust gas cleaning system (scrubber) is fitted. Scrubber wash-water piping, the overboard discharge and the hull penetration around it are among the fastest-corroding parts of a modern ship, so they belong in the gauging scope at every docking and, on open-loop systems, between dockings.

How a thickness measurement job runs at Boulogne-sur-Mer

A gauging job at Boulogne-sur-Mer runs the same way whatever the ship type. The sequence below is what the superintendent, the attending surveyor and the yard can expect from us.

Paris Charles de Gaulle and Brussels are the usual arrival airports, followed by train or road to Boulogne, with Lille Lesquin as a regional option. Technicians travel from India on Schengen visas applied for once the vessel's dates are firm, supported by an invitation letter from the owner or manager. Quay access and any work in the processing district's secure areas is arranged through the ship's agent or the vessel owner, and plans allow for tide, weather and the fishing schedule.

• 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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