Ultrasonic Thickness Gauging for Ships Calling at Chios

Inspection services for ships at Chios

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

Gauging at the quay, at anchor and on the way to a yard

Chios has quay frontage rather than a major repair complex. A small yard and slipway take local craft, and fishing vessels, tugs and workboats can be hauled for hull inspection, but larger merchant ships and the bigger ferries go elsewhere for docking. Realistic gauging at Chios is therefore afloat: decks, hatch coamings, side shell above the waterline, accessible ballast tanks, and for ferries the vehicle decks and ramps, all measured while the ship is alongside.

Where a ship is heading for a docking, the sensible sequence is to gauge afloat at Chios, send the report to the yard and class surveyor, and, if the owner wishes, have the team join the ship again at the docking yard, usually at Perama or Elefsina on the Greek mainland, or at a Turkish yard across the strait. Berth allocation, port-gate access and permits are handled through the ship's agent and the port authority, and the team provides its certificates and equipment details in advance.

• Chios town harbour quays: deck, side shell and tank gauging on ferries and cargo ships during their stay alongside.
• Ferry berths in the main harbour: car-deck, ramp and ballast-tank gauging on ro-pax ships during winter lay-overs.
• Local slipway and small repair yard: shell and rudder readings on tugs, fishing boats and workboats hauled for survey.
• Sheltered anchorage near the town: launch-served gauging for ships awaiting orders, subject to wind and swell.
• Lay-by berths for laid-up ships: slower condition gauging over several days for owners considering sale or reactivation.
• Handover to a mainland yard: readings prepared in the TM plan format for the docking at Perama or Elefsina.

Island trade, Greek regulation and the docking question

Chios falls under Greek jurisdiction and the Hellenic Coast Guard, with Paris MoU port state control applying to foreign-flag ships calling there. The Coast Guard's local port authority controls berthing, safety and pollution matters in the harbour, and its permission is needed for work on ships that carry cargo or lie in the passenger berths. Ferries on island routes sit under Greek passenger-ship rules in addition to class, so a structural finding on a ro-pax ship can have operational consequences for a timetable that cannot easily be reshuffled.

Island ferries carry added regulatory attention under EU rules, since emissions on island voyages enter EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime accounting on their own terms, and owners are watching their fleet plans closely. For an older ferry, the question of whether to invest in another renewal or replace her is partly a thickness question. For the Greek owners that manage dry cargo and tanker tonnage from the island, the Ship Recycling Regulation's Inventory of Hazardous Materials adds a reason to know the hull and the steel before a sale.

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

Most of the work on a Chios job happens before the team boards: scope, plan and access are settled first, so the time on board goes on measurement.

Chios has its own airport with domestic flights, and international travellers usually connect through Athens before the short onward flight or an overnight ferry from Piraeus. Technicians from India need a Schengen visa for Greece, applied for once the call is confirmed. Because ferry schedules and weather decide when a berth is free, the team travels only after the agent has confirmed the berth, and port access and permits are requested through 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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