Thickness Measurement at PortCastelló: Tankers, Bulkers and Ceramic Cargo Ships

Inspection services for ships at Castellón

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

Where gauging happens at Castellón

Tankers and chemical carriers can be gauged alongside at the liquid bulk berths, subject to the terminal's safety rules, the ship's own enclosed-space entry system and the cargo programme. Ballast tanks, voids, cofferdams, deck piping and the shell above the waterline are the usual scope while cargo moves. Bulkers and general cargo ships at the dry cargo quays allow more open working, with holds, coamings and decks reachable once discharging has finished and the hold has been cleaned.

The harbour has no drydock for ships of ocean-going size. Tugs, pilot boats and fishing craft are handled by local workshops, while merchant ships needing steel renewal go to larger yards at Valencia, Cartagena or Barcelona. For these ships, the useful job at Castellón is to establish the wastage picture before the docking, so steel orders and yard bookings reflect measured plating rather than guesses. Anchorage jobs are feasible for short sampling work when a launch and a quiet sea are available, and weather windows are a common planning constraint.

• Liquid bulk berths — ballast tank, deck, cofferdam and piping readings on refinery tankers and chemical carriers under terminal permit rules
• Dry cargo quays for ceramic raw materials — hold frame, hopper and hatch coaming gauging on bulk carriers once holds are clear
• Container and general cargo berths — engine-room tank, sea-water line and scrubber piping gauging during tile export calls
• Gas terminal berth — hull, ballast tank and deck readings on gas carriers within terminal rules, excluding cargo containment
• Castellón anchorage — short sampling jobs on ships waiting for berth or orders, weather and launch permitting
• Docking yards at Valencia, Cartagena and Barcelona — gauging started here continues alongside the docking survey

Port state control and industrial trades at Castellón

Port state control at Castellón sits under the Paris MoU and is carried out by the Capitanía Marítima, part of the Dirección General de la Marina Mercante. Tankers and chemical carriers are given additional attention because of their cargoes, and structural condition and corrosion of ballast tanks and deck piping are routine topics of questions. On ships under the Enhanced Survey Programme, a current thickness record shows how steel has changed since the last survey and supports decisions on renewal.

Business in the port is tied to two industries: refining and ceramics. Tanker owners serving the refinery work with charterers who look at vessel condition, and ceramic exporters rely on container and bulk lines that keep their schedules. EU rules affect both: ships calling at EU ports carry an Inventory of Hazardous Materials, and EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime shape decisions on energy and fuel. Older product tankers and small bulk carriers often trade on the same short routes for years, and wear in ballast tanks and hatch covers accumulates quietly until a survey brings it to light.

Since 1 May 2025 the whole Mediterranean has been a sulphur emission control area, so ships calling at Castellón 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 Castellón

A gauging job at Castellón 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.

The closest international airports are Valencia and Barcelona, each a road journey from Castellón, and Valencia is generally the more convenient for technicians arriving from India through a European or Gulf hub. Castellón's own airport has limited scheduled service. The ship's agent arranges port and terminal passes and a launch for anchorage work. Schengen visas are needed, so please share the vessel's dates early; we confirm mobilisation once visas are issued, as tanker calls can move with cargo programmes.

• 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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