Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement in Ceuta on the Strait of Gibraltar

Inspection services for ships at Ceuta

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

Quays, anchorage and fishing basin: where gauging can be done in Ceuta

At the commercial quays, ships working cargo or waiting to bunker can be gauged in spaces that do not interfere with operations. Ballast tanks released by the chief officer, deck plating, hatch coamings, deck piping and the steering gear flat are the usual targets, and a tanker taking bunkers can have its deck structure and accessible tanks measured once the permit system is in place. Ferries on the Algeciras run are measured between crossings or during off-season stops, with attention on the vehicle deck, ramp and stern door.

At the anchorage, the plan depends on weather and on how long the ship stays. A launch arranged through the agent brings the technicians to the ship, and their ultrasonic gauges and magnetic particle kit travel in cases that go up the pilot ladder or accommodation ladder with them. Ceuta has facilities for light repairs and for small craft, but a full docking of a large merchant ship normally means a yard on the Spanish mainland or in the Bay of Gibraltar. The readings taken at Ceuta then go to that yard as a starting point, and the team can follow the ship there to finish the survey if the owner wants a single contractor for the whole job.

• Main commercial quays: ballast tank, deck and piping gauging on ships working cargo or waiting for bunkers
• Bunker berths and roadstead: targeted readings on tankers, bulkers and container ships taking fuel, by launch where the ship is at anchor
• Ferry berths: vehicle deck, ramp, stern door and ballast gauging on the Algeciras ro-pax ships between crossings
• Fishing basin: hull, tank and deck gauging on fishing boats hauled or moored for maintenance
• Drydocks in the Bay of Gibraltar and on the mainland: where gauging begun in Ceuta can be finished during the docking survey

Spanish regulation at the Strait and what drives gauging here

Although Ceuta lies on the African coast, it is Spanish territory and part of the EU, and port state control on foreign ships is carried out under the Paris MoU by Spanish marine inspectors, working for the Dirección General de la Marina Mercante through the local Capitanía Marítima. The port lies east of the western boundary of the Mediterranean emission control area, so ships bunkering here operate under the 0.10% sulphur limit or run exhaust gas cleaning systems, and scrubber piping is a recurring subject of gauging on the ships that pass through.

The commercial context is the Strait itself. Ships in transit take fuel at Ceuta because it is convenient and competitive against other Strait ports, and superintendents use the short stay to settle small questions about steel. Typical drivers are a port state control remark, a charterer's request for a condition report, an upcoming sale or a surveyor's note at the last annual survey. The EU Emissions Trading System has covered shipping since 2024 and FuelEU Maritime since 2025, so older ships are under pressure, and a current gauging record shows a buyer or an owner what steel work remains. Owners should also remember that ships calling at EU ports are expected to hold an Inventory of Hazardous Materials, which is separate from thickness gauging but part of the same compliance picture.

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

A gauging job at Ceuta 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.

Ceuta has no scheduled commercial airline service of significance, so technicians normally fly from India to Málaga, Jerez or Seville through a European or Gulf hub, then reach Algeciras by road and cross by ferry. The crossing is short but is subject to weather. Spain is in the Schengen area and Schengen visas are needed before travel dates are set. The ship's agent arranges port access, ISPS passes and any launch for the anchorage.

• 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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