Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement and Hull Gauging in Gdańsk

Inspection services for ships at Gdańsk

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

Where we gauge ships in Gdańsk

In the Northern Port, terminal rules shape the work. At Naftoport, nothing happens on a tanker without a permit from both ship and terminal; within that, the deck and pipelines are measured during discharge, while cargo tank internals need gas-free certification and therefore dedicated time alongside, at anchor or in a yard. At Baltic Hub, container ship calls are short, so scopes are agreed with the chief engineer in advance and concentrate on what can be reached in the time, typically scrubber piping, deck structure and accessible tanks. CAP thickness measurement on a tanker is the opposite case: a large, structured scope that needs days rather than hours.

When a ship enters one of Remontowa's floating docks, preparing access is the yard's job; measuring the shell, double bottom, tanks and piping as each is handed over is ours. The aim is to give the yard and the class surveyor a renewal list within the first days of the stay. Along the Inner Port quays, bulk, general cargo and ro-ro ships are gauged during cargo operations. Ships riding at anchor in the Gulf of Gdańsk are boarded by launch, which the agent books, and that is often where pre-purchase and pre-docking gauging is done.

• Naftoport, Northern Port — crude tankers; main deck, pipelines and, once gas-free, cargo and ballast tank structure when the discharge programme allows
• Baltic Hub container terminal — ocean-going and feeder container ships; scrubber piping, deck and ballast-tank gauging during calls
• Northern Port bulk terminals — coal, grain and other dry bulk; bulk carriers measured in holds, hoppers and on tank tops between loading stages
• Remontowa Ship Repair Yard — floating docks taking ferries, tankers and offshore units; survey gauging that sets the steel list early in the stay
• Inner Port quays on the Martwa Wisła — general cargo, ro-ro and ferry berths; vehicle-deck and hold gauging during port stays
• Gulf of Gdańsk anchorage — tankers and bulk carriers held before berthing at the Northern Port; the team goes out by a launch booked through the agent

Polish regulation and market context in Gdańsk

Port state control in Gdańsk is carried out under the Paris MoU, and ships in the Gulf of Gdańsk must burn fuel at or below 0.10% sulphur, the Baltic ECA limit, unless they clean their exhaust. Large container ships arriving from Asia are among the ships most likely to carry exhaust gas scrubbers, and the acidic wash-water they handle attacks discharge piping and the shell connection, which is why owners order regular gauging of those lines. Under the EU ETS for shipping, from 2024, voyages arriving from outside the EU are partly covered and voyages between EU ports fully, and FuelEU Maritime applies from 2025, so the steel renewal decision on an older ship docking here is weighed against a growing set of regulatory obligations.

The tanker trade brings vetting to the fore. Oil-major vetting through SIRE inspections, and CAP, which charterers commonly request for tankers over about fifteen years, both rest on the condition of hull structure, and the IACS ESP rules, UR Z10.1 and Z10.4 for oil tankers, require gauging that grows with each renewal survey. Gdańsk is also where the Polish Register of Shipping has its headquarters. Every society applies the same IACS rule, UR Z17: the firm measuring thickness for a class survey needs the approval of that ship's own society.

Ships trading to Gdańsk are inside a sulphur emission control area, where fuel must not exceed 0.10% sulphur unless an exhaust gas cleaning system (scrubber) is fitted. Scrubber wash-water piping, the overboard discharge and the hull penetration around it are among the fastest-corroding parts of a modern ship, so they belong in the gauging scope at every docking and, on open-loop systems, between dockings.

How a thickness measurement job runs at Gdańsk

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

The team flies into Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport, which serves the whole Tricity area, and reaches the Northern Port, the Inner Port or the shipyard by road. The ship's agent applies for ISPS passes at Naftoport, Baltic Hub and the bulk terminals and books a launch for ships at anchor, while the shipyard handles entry for dockings. Poland is a Schengen state, so our technicians travelling from India hold a Schengen visa; we lock in dates once the docking slot or discharge programme is known.

• 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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