Maritime inspection · Italy
Ship Thickness Measurement and Hull Gauging in Genoa
Genoa pairs a busy ship-repair district with year-round ferry, cruise and tanker traffic, so many superintendents meet a drydock or renewal survey here. When a ro-pax ferry is booked into a Genoa drydock, or a tanker at Multedo needs gauging ahead of a CAP or vetting inspection, Atlantis NDT mobilises an ultrasonic thickness measurement team from India to work to the yard programme and the attending surveyor's requirements.
Ferry refit season in the drydocks
Ro-pax operators on the Sardinia, Corsica and Sicily routes tend to dock in the quieter winter months, so renewal and intermediate survey gauging in Genoa clusters into a season that can be planned well ahead.
Tanker gauging at Multedo
Crude and product tankers at the Multedo oil port can have accessible ballast tanks, deck plating and deck piping gauged during discharge, giving owners data before a CAP, a vetting inspection or a sale.
Scrubber lines on homeported ships
Cruise ships and ferries that return to Genoa on fixed rotations give repeat access to exhaust gas cleaning wash-water and overboard piping, so wall loss can be trended across several calls instead of measured once.
Inspection services for ships at Genoa
Each service has its own page with the method, the class requirements and what the report contains.
Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement (UTM)
Hull, tank, deck and bulkhead gauging recorded on the class thickness-measurement formats, with sketches and corrosion flagged against the allowable margins.
ExploreSpecial Survey Thickness Measurement
Gauging for the 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25-year special (renewal) surveys and intermediate surveys, plus pre-docking steel estimates.
ExploreCAS (Condition Assessment Scheme)
Thickness measurement and survey support for the IMO Condition Assessment Scheme, and what CAS asks of an older tanker today.
ExploreCAP Thickness Measurement
Gauging and close-up survey data for a Condition Assessment Programme, the voluntary class service charterers ask for on older tankers and bulk carriers.
ExploreESP Gauging
Thickness measurement and close-up survey support for oil tankers, chemical tankers and bulk carriers under the ESP Code.
ExploreHull Structural Integrity
Substantial and excessive corrosion, pitting, grooving, buckling and fatigue cracks, with magnetic particle and penetrant crack detection.
ExploreShip Piping Inspection
Wall-thickness gauging of cargo, ballast, fuel, sea-water and fire-main piping, with minimum-wall checks and isometric sketches.
ExploreScrubber Piping Inspection
EGCS wash-water and overboard discharge piping, the hull penetration area and scrubber welds, checked between dockings.
ExploreIHM (Inventory of Hazardous Materials)
IHM Part I surveys, sampling and maintenance for the EU Ship Recycling Regulation and the Hong Kong Convention.
ExploreMarine NDT Services
Every NDT method we use on ships, from visual inspection and MPI to PAUT and ACFM, chosen by the defect you are looking for.
ExploreThe port of Genoa and the ships that call there
Genoa is the principal port of the Western Ligurian Sea port system, which also takes in Savona and Vado Ligure. Its basins run along the coast from the old port westwards to Voltri-Prà, and the traffic mix is unusually broad for a single city: container ships at the Prà terminal, ro-ro and multipurpose ships in the Sampierdarena basins, overnight ferries to Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily and North Africa, cruise ships at the passenger terminals, and crude and product tankers at the Multedo oil port to the west.
For thickness gauging, the decisive feature is the ship-repair district in the eastern part of the port. Drydocks owned by the port authority and operated by Ente Bacini sit alongside repair and conversion yards with their own quays, and Genoa has long experience of ferry, cruise and conversion work. Ferry operators favour the winter months for dockings, when island timetables thin out, which concentrates renewal and intermediate survey work into a predictable season. Cruise lines that homeport ships in Genoa also use the repair berths for technical stops and refits, and these stays give time to open tanks and voids that are never accessible in service.
Inspection demand in Genoa is shaped by the ro-pax fleet. Many ferries on the Tyrrhenian routes are older tonnage, and their vehicle decks, internal ramps, stern doors, void spaces and ballast tanks accumulate wastage that each renewal survey examines more closely. Tankers at Multedo bring a different kind of request: gauging that supports CAP, vetting or a sale and has to be finished inside a discharge window. Container ships at Prà, by contrast, usually offer only short, limited-scope access during cargo work, so jobs there are planned around a defined list of spaces rather than a full survey. Ferry thickness gauging in Genoa is therefore often a two-stage job: a pre-docking survey alongside to size the steel work, then a full programme once the ship is on the blocks.
Where gauging happens in and around Genoa
Most structured gauging in Genoa takes place in the ship-repair district east of the old port. In a graving or floating dock the bottom shell, side shell, sea chests and stern area are fully accessible, while repair quays let tanks be opened, ventilated and gauged with the ship afloat. Large refits and conversions involve steel renewal planning, so a pre-docking thickness survey is often done weeks earlier, sometimes at the ship's normal Genoa berth between sailings, to give the yard tonnage estimates before the contract is fixed. Ship inspection in Genoa also benefits from short distances: drydocks, repair quays and passenger terminals sit within one harbour, so a team can move between a docked ship and an afloat one in the same day.
UTM in Genoa outside the repair district is usually shorter and more targeted: a tanker at Multedo during discharge, a container ship at Prà during cargo operations, or a ship lying at the outer anchorage awaiting a berth or a sale inspection. Savona and Vado Ligure, within the same port system, add cruise and container calls that the same mobilisation can cover. Every terminal has its own ISPS access procedure, and the ship's agent handles passes and launch bookings.
- Ente Bacini drydocks, Molo Giano area — full hull, sea chest and double-bottom tank gauging during dockings, with staging and lighting arranged through the yard
- Repair and conversion yards in the ship-repair district — gauging ahead of steel renewal on ferries, cruise ships and conversion projects, plus re-gauging of renewed areas
- Ferry and cruise passenger terminals — afloat gauging of vehicle decks, ramps, voids and scrubber piping between overnight sailings or during turnaround days
- Multedo oil port — gauging of accessible ballast tanks, main deck and deck piping on crude and product tankers within the cargo window
- Voltri-Prà container terminal — limited-scope gauging of hatch covers, ballast tanks and scrubber overboard lines while cargo operations continue
- Outer anchorage off Genoa — pre-purchase and on-hire or off-hire condition gauging, reached by launch through the ship's agent
- Savona and Vado Ligure — cruise and container calls within the same port system, covered by the same mobilisation when schedules overlap
Thickness measurement through the survey cycle at Genoa
How much steel has to be gauged depends on which survey the ship is due for, its type and its age. The pattern below is the usual one under IACS unified requirements; the attending surveyor and the class rules for the ship decide the final extent. For a ship calling at Genoa, we agree the programme with the class and the owner before the team mobilises.
| Survey | When it falls | What the thickness measurement usually covers |
|---|---|---|
| Annual survey | Every year, within three months of the anniversary date | General examination. Gauging where the surveyor finds suspect areas or where substantial corrosion was recorded at an earlier survey. |
| Intermediate survey | In place of the second or third annual survey | Suspect areas, and on older ships and ESP ships selected ballast and cargo spaces with close-up survey; the extent grows with age. |
| Renewal survey No. 1 | Around 5 years | The first full baseline: suspect areas and selected plating and stiffeners, usually with modest steel renewal. |
| Renewal survey No. 2 | Around 10 years | Wider gauging of deck, bottom and side plating, transverse sections across the cargo area on ESP ships, and more close-up survey. |
| Renewal survey No. 3 | Around 15 years | Extensive gauging of cargo and ballast tank structure and more transverse sections. The survey most likely to turn up steel renewal. |
| Renewal survey No. 4 and later | Around 20 and 25 years | Gauging extended to most structural members in cargo and ballast spaces. Charterers often add a Condition Assessment Programme. |
| Docking survey | Twice in each five-year period | Bottom and side shell, sea chests, rudder and stern area while the hull is dry; suspect bottom plating gauged. |
Regulatory and market context for ships calling at Genoa
Italy is a Paris MoU state, so ships in Genoa are selected for port state control under the Paris MoU risk-based targeting system, and visible structural wastage on an older ship can turn a routine inspection into a detention. Since 1 May 2025 the Mediterranean Sea has been a SOx Emission Control Area under MARPOL Annex VI regulation 14, so ships calling at Genoa burn 0.10% sulphur fuel or operate an exhaust gas cleaning system to an equivalent standard. Ferries and cruise ships with scrubbers now run them to ECA limits throughout Mediterranean waters, which makes wash-water piping, overboard discharge lines and their shell penetrations a regular gauging item.
EU ETS has covered shipping since 2024 and FuelEU Maritime has applied since 2025, and both bear on older ferries and tankers: when an owner weighs keeping, selling or re-engining a ship, a recent gauging record tells the buyer or the yard what steel work lies ahead. Genoa is also a centre of the Italian shipping community. RINA, the Italian classification society, has its headquarters here, as do major ferry and cruise operators, and the city hosts shipowners, managers, brokers and P&I correspondents. Superintendents planning a Genoa docking therefore often have the class, the yard and the commercial decision-makers within the same city.
Since 1 May 2025 the whole Mediterranean has been a sulphur emission control area, so ships calling at Genoa 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.
Typical thickness gauging jobs in Genoa
Most Genoa enquiries come from ferry and cruise operators planning a docking, from tanker managers who need data before CAP or vetting, and from buyers inspecting ships that are trading in or out of the Mediterranean. The common thread is a fixed window: a yard slot booked months ahead or a discharge that lasts a day. We agree the scope, the spaces and the attending surveyor's expectations before the team travels.
- Renewal survey gauging on a ro-pax ferry in an Ente Bacini drydock, covering vehicle decks, ramps, bottom shell and ballast tanks, with results feeding the yard's steel renewal list
- Pre-docking gauging on a ferry at its regular Genoa berth between overnight sailings, so the owner can fix steel tonnage with the repair yard before the docking date
- Scrubber wash-water and overboard piping wall-thickness survey on a homeported cruise ship during a turnaround day at the passenger terminal
- Gauging of ballast tanks and main deck on a product tanker at Multedo during discharge, to close out substantial corrosion items before a CAP inspection
- Pre-purchase condition gauging on a multipurpose ship at the outer anchorage, reached by launch and limited to safely accessible spaces
How a thickness measurement job runs at Genoa
Most of the work on a Genoa job happens before the team boards: scope, plan and access are settled first, so the time on board goes on measurement.
Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport sits beside the port, and longer-haul arrivals connect through Milan Malpensa or Rome Fiumicino. The ship's agent arranges ISPS gate passes for the drydocks, repair quays and terminals, or a launch for ships at anchor. Italy is in the Schengen area, so our technicians travel on Schengen visas, and we start the application as soon as a docking date is firm. That suits Genoa well: ferry and cruise dockings are normally booked months in advance, which leaves ample time to align visas, flights and the yard programme.
- 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.
Who does the work, and when class approval applies
The inspection team is mobilised from India for each job; nobody is stationed at the port, so mobilisation is planned against the vessel's schedule and visa lead times. Our founder and Responsible NDT Level III, who holds ASNT NDT Level III in UT, RT, MT, PT and VT and has over eleven years of international field experience, plans and supervises the work. Technicians are certified under the company's written practice to ASNT SNT-TC-1A, and the company holds ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification.
Thickness measurement that a classification society credits to a class survey has to be carried out by a firm approved by that society under IACS UR Z17. Atlantis is in the process of obtaining UR Z17 approval from DNV, Lloyd's Register and ABS. Until a certificate is issued, the readings we take are for the owner's own decisions, not for credit to a class survey, so tell us the vessel's class and the survey due when you enquire and we set the scope for the right purpose. Owner's and charterer's condition gauging, pre-docking steel estimates, pre-purchase and on-hire or off-hire gauging, and scrubber and piping condition checks between surveys do not need class approval.
Governing codes and standards
- IACS UR Z7 hull classification surveys
- IACS UR Z10.1 to Z10.5 (oil tankers, bulk carriers, chemical tankers, double-hull and double-skin ships)
- IACS UR Z17 approval of service suppliers
- SOLAS chapter XI-1 regulation 2 and the 2011 ESP Code
- MARPOL Annex VI regulation 14 and the 2021 EGCS Guidelines (MEPC.340(77))
- The rules of the vessel's classification society
What you receive
- Thickness measurement report on the class formats, with sketches
- Summary of substantial and excessive corrosion against allowable margins
- Pitting and grooving records with depth and extent
- Piping wall-thickness tables with isometric sketches
- Magnetic particle or penetrant crack-detection reports
- Gauge calibration records and technician certificates
Industries served
- Ro-pax and ro-ro ferries
- Cruise ships
- Crude and product tankers
- Container ships
- Ro-ro cargo ships
- Multipurpose and general cargo ships
Frequently asked questions
Can you gauge a ferry in a Genoa drydock during its winter refit?
Yes. Winter dockings are the most common Genoa job. Send us the docking dates, the class survey due and the previous thickness report, and we plan the team's arrival for when tanks are open and staging is in place. Bottom shell and sea chests are best gauged in the first days, before blasting and painting crews take over.
Can tanker gauging at Multedo be done without gas-freeing cargo tanks?
Partly. During discharge we can gauge the main deck, deck piping and any ballast tanks the ship's officers declare safe for entry under the ship's permit system. Cargo tank internals need a gas-free certificate, so full CAP-level gauging of cargo tanks is normally planned for a yard stay rather than a terminal call.
Do you need class approval to measure on a RINA-classed ship in Genoa?
Under IACS UR Z17, thickness measurement credited to a class survey has to be carried out by a firm that the ship's own class society has approved, whichever society that is. Check the approval position for your ship's class with us at the scoping stage. Gauging for owners' own purposes, such as pre-docking estimates or pre-purchase inspection, is not tied to a class survey.
How far ahead should we book thickness measurement in Genoa?
As early as the docking or inspection date is known. Our team is mobilised from India and needs Schengen visas, so a few weeks of notice is the practical minimum, and more is better in the winter refit season, when yard schedules move and several ferries may be in the drydocks at once.
Does thickness measurement at Genoa need class approval?
Thickness measurement that a classification society credits to a class survey has to be carried out by a firm approved by that society under IACS UR Z17. Atlantis is in the process of obtaining UR Z17 approval from DNV, Lloyd's Register and ABS. Until a certificate is issued, the readings we take are for the owner's own decisions, not for credit to a class survey, so tell us the vessel's class and the survey due when you enquire and we set the scope for the right purpose. Owner's and charterer's condition gauging, pre-docking steel estimates, pre-purchase and on-hire or off-hire gauging, and scrubber and piping condition checks between surveys do not need class approval.
Planning a survey or a drydock?
Send the vessel name or IMO number, the class, the survey due and the port. We reply with the scope, the mobilisation plan and a quote for that vessel.
Request a QuoteRequest a ship gauging quote
Send the vessel name or IMO number, the class society, the survey due and the port. We reply with the scope, the mobilisation plan and a quote for that vessel.
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