Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement for Ships Calling at Catania

Inspection services for ships at Catania

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

Where gauging can take place at Catania

Catania is primarily a working port rather than a repair port. Large dockings are normally done at yards elsewhere in Sicily, in Malta or on the mainland, and the port's value for inspection is access to ships between voyages. Ro-ro berths allow work on vehicle decks and ramps while the ship waits for its next sailing. Passenger quays allow cruise turnaround inspections. Commercial quays allow cargo holds of bulk carriers to be gauged once discharge has left them empty and safe to enter.

Gauging scope therefore depends on berth and ship type. On a ro-ro vessel the programme is deck plating, ramp structure, ballast tanks and the sections of hull accessible from inside. On a bulk carrier it is hold frames, hopper and topside tanks and hatch coamings once holds are cleaned. On a cruise ship it is a targeted list of spaces and pipework. For lay-by or idle ships, a longer programme is realistic because the crew is not working cargo and the ship is not under time pressure.

• Ro-ro and trailer berths: vehicle decks, ramps and ballast tanks of ships on fixed rotations between sailings
• Passenger and cruise quays: turnaround-day gauging of voids, tanks and exhaust gas cleaning pipework
• Commercial quays: cargo holds, hopper tanks and hatch coamings of bulk carriers and general cargo ships after discharge
• Petroleum product berths: small tankers and bunker craft, scheduled with the terminal and the master
• Lay-by berths for idle or waiting ships, where a longer gauging programme is practical
• Augusta and Messina: nearby ports used when a ship needs a larger yard for steel work after gauging

Port state control and regulation affecting Catania ships

Port state inspections at Catania are carried out by the Italian Coast Guard (Guardia Costiera) through the harbour master (Capitaneria di Porto), under the Paris MoU system. Ro-ro and passenger ships on scheduled routes face the additional EU inspection regime for ships in regular service, so structural defects on ferries tend to come to light quickly. For owners of older ro-ro ships, a recent set of thickness readings is a practical way to show that a deficiency does not reflect general steel condition.

On the commercial side, the EU Ship Recycling Regulation requires ships calling at EU ports to carry an Inventory of Hazardous Materials with a statement of compliance, and a docking is the usual moment to survey and update it. EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime place a carbon cost on emissions that makes fleet renewal decisions more pointed. Bulk carriers and tankers surveyed under the Enhanced Survey Programme need thickness reports in specific class formats, and gauging before the docking keeps the surveyor's time in the yard focused on close-up inspection.

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

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

Catania Fontanarossa airport lies close to the city and the port, with connections to mainland Italy and several European hubs, which keeps transfers straightforward once the team has landed. The crew travels from India on Schengen visas, so dates need confirming once the ship's schedule is known and visa lead time has been allowed. The ship's agent obtains port access and ISPS passes, and we send the equipment list and personnel details to the agent in advance.

• 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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