Renewal and Intermediate Survey Gauging for Ships on the Ghent Canal

Where is special survey gauging done in Ghent?

Most survey-related gauging in Ghent happens alongside, not in a dock. Bulk carriers working cargo at the steelworks quays on the canal are the main case: once the grabs are clear and the holds are swept, the crew provides staging, portable lighting and ventilation, and the team measures hold frames, brackets, hopper plating and hatch coamings against the thickness measurement plan. Agribulk berths and forest-product quays offer the same pattern on smaller bulkers and open-hatch ships, where a cargo of grain or paper products leaves clean, dry holds and a predictable sailing time.

Ro-ro ships on the Scandinavian rotations and vehicle carriers at the car terminal are gauged in the gaps between rotations, with the work concentrated on main-deck plating, ramp structure and the car-deck stiffening that has taken years of lashing loads. Product and biofuel tankers at the canal-side terminals are different again: the cargo tanks stay closed until a gas-free certificate is in hand, so the early gauging goes to deck plating and the visible parts of the ballast system, with tank entry added only when the ship can offer it.

Because the canal passage is long and lock slots are planned, the stay at Ghent is usually a whole cargo operation. That makes the berth a better survey-preparation location than many sea ports where a ship may be alongside for only a few hours.

• Steelworks quays: holds of ore and coal carriers, measured between the end of discharge and the sailing time.
• Agribulk and forest-product berths: dry, clean holds on handysize and open-hatch ships.
• Ro-ro and car terminal berths: main deck, ramps and car-deck structure during rotation gaps.
• Tank terminals on the canal: deck plating and accessible ballast structure on tankers, cargo tanks only when gas-free.

How is the survey gauging scoped for these ships?

The scope starts from the class survey requirement for the ship type and age, then adds what the owner wants to know that the class will not ask for. For a bulk carrier that usually means all holds, not only the ones the surveyor will sample, because the delay from finding a wasted frame in the last hold at the yard is greater than the time to look at it early.

The team prepares a plan with frame numbers, strakes and members listed before boarding. On arrival the crew confirms which holds are empty, which tanks can be ventilated, and where staging will be rigged. Readings are taken on cleaned steel, or through coatings only where the gauge's through-coating mode has been proven on a coated reference, and each reading is recorded against its location on the sketch.

Weather matters less in a covered hold than on deck. Cold weather on the canal affects gauges and couplant, so the team carries the gel appropriate to low temperature and warms the probe where needed. Deck plating and hatch coamings are gauged when the weather permits and sequenced around rain.

How should a survey gauging job at Ghent be planned?

Start with the sequence of the call. A bulker discharging at the steelworks typically has a fixed discharge and a canal slot for departure; the useful measuring window is the interval between those two, not the whole berth time. Tell us the expected end of discharge and the sailing slot, and we shape the plan so the highest-priority holds are measured first. A ship that stays for loading as well gives a second window in which holds can be revisited.

Visa lead time is the other fixed constraint. The team travels from India and needs Schengen visas, so confirm the call as early as the owner can, and send the vessel's IMO number, class, the survey it is heading for and any earlier thickness measurement report. If a docking elsewhere is already booked, add the yard and the dates so the report is delivered in the form the yard will use.

On arrival the ship's agent arranges gate access and the master confirms safe entry, lighting and ventilation. If any space is not available, the report states what was measured and what remains for the docking.

Where special survey thickness measurement sits in the survey cycle

Class rules set the survey cycle, and the cycle sets how much gauging a ship needs. A superintendent planning a call at Ghent usually knows which survey is due; the table shows what the thickness measurement for each one typically involves. The exact extent comes from the class rules for the ship type and the surveyor attending, so the thickness measurement programme is agreed with the class before work starts.

Who does the work, and when class approval applies

We send the team from India to the ship for each job rather than keeping staff at the port, and plan the mobilisation around visas and the vessel's itinerary. The work is planned and supervised by the founder, our Responsible NDT Level III (ASNT NDT Level III in UT, RT, MT, PT and VT, with more than eleven years of international field experience). Technicians hold certification under the company's written practice to ASNT SNT-TC-1A; Atlantis is ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified.

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.

Frequently asked questions