Thickness Measurement for Ships at Figueira da Foz and the Mondego

Inspection services for ships at Figueira da Foz

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

Where gauging is done at Figueira da Foz

The port has a shipyard on the Mondego, the Estaleiro Naval do Mondego, which handles repair and conversion of coasters, fishing vessels and workboats. A ship docked or hauled out there can have its shell plating, sea chests, rudder and propeller areas measured, and the yard's staging and access are arranged through the yard planner. Ships too big for the yard go to other Portuguese or Galician yards, and Figueira then provides the afloat gauging ahead of the move.

At the cargo quays, holds on bulk carriers and coasters can be gauged once cargo is discharged, holds are cleaned and the crew declares them safe. Ballast tanks and voids are gauged when emptied and ventilated. Forest-products carriers, which tend to have large clear holds, are straightforward to inspect after a clean discharge. Fishing vessels at the fishing harbour are gauged afloat for owners who want a condition record ahead of a survey or sale. Access to each location is arranged through the ship's agent, and every compartment is entered under the ship's own entry permit.

• Cargo quays on the Mondego — hold, coaming and tank-top gauging on pulp, paper, cement and bulk ships after discharge.
• Shipyard on the river — shell, sea chest, rudder and propeller-area gauging during dockings.
• Fishing harbour — hull and tank gauging on trawlers ahead of surveys or sales.
• Lay-by berths — condition gauging of idle coasters before charter or sale.
• Ballast tanks and voids — gauged afloat once emptied, ventilated and released by the crew.
• Pre-docking calls — afloat readings feeding steel estimates for yards in Figueira, Aveiro or Galicia.

Port state control and rules at Figueira da Foz

Portugal is part of the Paris MoU, and port state control at Figueira da Foz follows the regional risk-based system. Inspections are carried out under the Directorate-General for Natural Resources, Safety and Maritime Services, known as DGRM, with the local harbour master responsible for port administration. Older coasters and bulk carriers with a history of wastage are inspected more often, so a recent gauging report helps the superintendent see in advance where an inspector is likely to focus.

EU rules play a role too. Shipping is within the EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime applies, though the coastal ships that visit Figueira da Foz may fall below the tonnage thresholds for some obligations. The EU Ship Recycling Regulation requires an Inventory of Hazardous Materials on ships in EU ports, and thickness gauging is often arranged alongside that update. For most customers here the real driver is the class survey cycle, or the decision whether to renew steel or retire an ageing hull. Fishing vessels follow separate flag-state and class rules, and we scope them to match.

Wherever a ship is outside a sulphur emission control area, the global 0.50% sulphur cap applies, and many of the ships calling at Figueira da Foz 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 Figueira da Foz

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

Porto's Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport is the main international arrival point, with Lisbon as an alternative; both are reachable by road. Technicians from India connect through a European hub. The ship's agent arranges port and yard access and any launch. Portugal is a Schengen state, so Schengen visas are obtained in India before departure, and the application begins once the arrival or docking date is firm and the owner has provided an invitation letter naming the vessel. Bar closures can move dates, so travel is confirmed against the agent's latest information.

• 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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