Ultrasonic Gauging for Ships Alongside at Derince Port

Inspection services for ships at Derince

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

Where a ship can be gauged at Derince

At the quays, hold work is the core scope. Once a hold is discharged, swept and certified for entry, the team measures tank top plating, lower frames and brackets, hopper plating, coamings and hatch covers, and any plates the surveyor has marked. On multipurpose ships the same approach covers tween decks and the structure that carries heavy lifts. The port's permit and access rules apply, and the agent arranges passes, with the sequence agreed around the cargo plan so holds are not held up.

The gulf anchorage is available for ships waiting for a berth, reached by launch through the agent, and the sheltered water usually allows a longer programme of deck, hatch and ballast tank gauging. Derince has no drydock for larger ships, and the usual route for a docking is to Tuzla or the Altınova yards near the mouth of the gulf, with readings from Derince sent ahead to the yard. The Izmit gulf is covered more widely on its own page, and this port's work is largely hold-centred rather than tanker-centred.

• Cargo quays — tank tops, lower hold frames, hopper plating and coamings on bulk, multipurpose and general cargo ships after discharge
• Steel and project cargo berths — hold and tween-deck structure on ships carrying heavy lifts, with impact damage marked
• Grain and fertiliser berths — hold and deck gauging on ships working corrosive and moist cargoes
• Container berths — ballast tanks, hatch covers and deck structure on feeders during scheduled calls
• Gulf anchorage — deck, hatch and ballast tank gauging on ships awaiting berths, reached by launch
• Docking at Tuzla or Altınova — Derince readings carried into the yard's steel estimate

Port state control and the cargo trades behind Derince

Derince falls under the Black Sea MoU and Mediterranean MoU regimes that Turkey participates in, enforced by the harbour master and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. Bulk carriers and general cargo ships on steel and grain routes are a regular target for inspectors because of hold condition and hatch cover weathertightness, and findings can become the reason for a gauging request. Class surveyors also ask for readings on plates they consider suspect during renewal surveys of older tonnage.

The commerce behind the port is Turkish industry and agriculture, and the shipowners range from Istanbul bulk operators to small regional companies running multipurpose tonnage. Steel exporters and grain importers often require that holds are in good condition before loading, so a thickness record helps an owner avoid disputes. Ships that go on to EU ports need a current Inventory of Hazardous Materials and report under the EU's carbon rules for those voyages, and Derince calls are a convenient point to refresh the hull record.

Wherever a ship is outside a sulphur emission control area, the global 0.50% sulphur cap applies, and many of the ships calling at Derince meet it with an exhaust gas cleaning system rather than compliant fuel. Scrubber wash-water piping, the overboard discharge and the hull penetration around it corrode quickly in service, especially on open-loop systems, and are worth adding to the gauging scope.

How a thickness measurement job runs at Derince

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

The team flies into Istanbul, normally to Sabiha Gökçen Airport, and reaches Derince by road along the northern shore of the Gulf of Izmit. The ship's agent arranges port passes, launches for the anchorage and the terminal's permit and gas-free requirements, and receives crew lists, technician certificates and equipment details in advance. Technicians from India need a Turkish visa, so we apply when the call is nominated and keep the validity period wide enough for a slipping berth.

• 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.

Related