Maritime inspection · Greece
Ship Thickness Measurement and Hull Gauging in Greece
Greek owners and managers run a large part of the world's dry bulk and tanker tonnage, so a gauging enquiry from Athens may concern a ship at Perama or one lying off a Chinese yard. In Greek waters the work concentrates around Attica: the Perama repair zone, the Elefsina Bay yards and lay-up anchorage, and the refinery jetties. The northern ports, the Adriatic ferry ports and the islands add cargo ships, tankers and ferries. Atlantis sends its team from India to the ship for each job, timed to the docking, the cargo call or the ferry's winter refit.
Renewal surveys on older tonnage
Greek fleets keep bulk carriers and tankers trading into their third and fourth renewal surveys, when gauging reaches most cargo and ballast structure. Measuring at Perama or an Elefsina yard before the dock date lets the superintendent settle steel tonnage and yard days on readings.
Ships coming out of lay-up
Elefsina Bay and the Saronic anchorages hold ships idle between charters or waiting for a buyer. Before reactivation or a sale inspection, gauging ballast tanks, sea-water and fire-main piping and deck structure shows what months of standing have done to the steel.
Ferries in their winter refit
Greek ro-pax ferries work hard through the summer and come off the timetable in winter. That is when vehicle decks, ramps, voids and ballast tanks can be emptied and opened, and when gauging fits around the refit without losing sailings.
Maritime inspection services
Start with the survey or problem; each service page explains the method, the class requirements and the report. Marine NDT and Advanced NDT list every inspection method.
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.
ExploreHatch Cover Ultrasonic Tightness Testing
Ultrasonic weathertightness testing of hatch covers, doors and closing appliances, with leak locations marked for the crew or the yard.
ExploreIHM (Inventory of Hazardous Materials)
IHM Part I surveys, sampling and maintenance for the EU Ship Recycling Regulation and the Hong Kong Convention.
ExploreShip Noise Survey
Noise level measurement in accommodation, work and machinery spaces to the IMO Code on Noise Levels on Board Ships, with a survey report for the ship.
ExploreInfrared Thermography
Thermal surveys of switchboards, motor control centres, machinery and exhaust insulation to find hot spots before they fail.
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.
ExploreAdvanced Marine NDT
PAUT, TOFD, ACFM, eddy current and corrosion mapping for the jobs conventional NDT cannot do well on a ship.
ExploreAttica: where most Greek gauging happens
The Perama ship-repair zone, on the western side of Piraeus harbour, is the busiest place in Greece for afloat repairs and floating-dock work. Steel, piping and machinery contractors line its quays, and the Piraeus Port Authority's floating docks take ships for bottom work and docking surveys. Salamina, across the narrow strait, has its own repair yards for coasters, ferries and workboats.
North-west of Piraeus, the Bay of Elefsina is enclosed by Salamina and sheltered enough for long lay-ups. Skaramangas Shipyards and Elefsis Shipyards take large tankers and bulk carriers for docking and heavy repair, and the refinery jetties at Aspropyrgos and Elefsina keep crude and product tankers moving through the bay. A job with readings at Perama one day and in Elefsina the next is routine, because the two are close by road.
Elsewhere around Attica, tanker work comes from the Motor Oil refinery at Agioi Theodoroi on the Saronic Gulf and the LNG terminal on Revithoussa island, while Lavrio, near the southern tip of the peninsula, handles island ferries and cargo.
Northern Greece, the Adriatic gateways and the islands
Northern Greece is a cargo coast. Thessaloniki handles bulk, general cargo and containers for the Balkans and serves a refinery; Kavala and Alexandroupoli, further east, take bulk and general cargo, and a floating LNG terminal now lies off Alexandroupoli. Volos, on the Pagasetic Gulf, mixes bulk and general cargo with ferries to the Sporades. In these ports the work is mostly done during cargo stays and at anchor.
On the west coast, Patras and Igoumenitsa are the Greek ends of the ferry routes across the Adriatic to Italy, so their ships are large ro-pax ferries on tight timetables, and gauging is planned for a lay-over or the off-season. Chalkida, on the Euripus strait between Euboea and the mainland, takes bulk and general cargo ships.
Among the Aegean islands, Syros stands out because the yard at Neorion in Ermoupoli docks and repairs ferries, tankers and cargo ships. Heraklion and Souda on Crete, and Rhodes in the Dodecanese, are ferry, cruise, fuel and cargo ports without large docks, where readings are fitted to layovers or winter lay-up and the steel work is done in Attica or at Syros.
Greek owners, and Greek ships gauged far from Greece
Much of the gauging commissioned in Greece is carried out somewhere else. Technical departments in Piraeus and the southern suburbs of Athens plan dockings in China, Turkey, the Middle East and the Black Sea, and a charter or sale deadline rarely waits for a ship to come home. We plan from the ship's position and itinerary, mobilise to that port or yard, and send the readings to the superintendent who asked for them.
Three jobs come up again and again. Pre-docking gauging gives the superintendent a measured steel list to negotiate with the yard. Pre-purchase gauging gives a buyer the condition of the steel before subjects are lifted, which matters most on a second-hand ship close to its next renewal survey. And on older tankers, gauging ahead of a Condition Assessment Programme survey shows the owner where the ship stands before charterers and vetting departments see the rating.
Port state control, the Mediterranean ECA and EU rules
Port state control in Greek ports is carried out by the Hellenic Coast Guard under the Paris MoU. The risk-based regime sends inspectors to older bulk carriers and tankers more often and for longer, and wastage they can see in hatch coamings, air pipes or an open ballast tank draws a closer look. Gauging between surveys, at the areas an inspector is most likely to examine, is owner's work that does not have to wait for the class cycle.
All Greek waters lie inside the Mediterranean SOx emission control area, in force since 1 May 2025, so ships burn 0.10% sulphur fuel or clean their exhaust to that standard with a scrubber. Wash-water piping, the overboard discharge and the shell plating around it carry the extra duty and belong in the gauging scope. As an EU member state, Greece applies EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime to voyages calling at its ports, and the EU Ship Recycling Regulation requires an Inventory of Hazardous Materials on Greek-flag ships and on foreign ships calling at Greek ports.
Seasons, weather and access in Greek waters
The Greek year shapes when gauging is easiest. Ferry work concentrates in winter, when island timetables thin out and refit berths at Perama, Salamina and Syros fill up. In July and August the meltemi, the strong northerly wind of the Aegean summer, can stop launch boarding at exposed anchorages for days, so anchorage work in those months needs flexible dates. Summer heat inside ballast tanks and double bottoms also slows enclosed-space work, so ventilation and rest breaks are planned into each day.
At the anchorages off Piraeus and in Elefsina Bay, the ship's agent books the launch and arranges port passes. In the repair zone the yard's own permit system runs alongside the ship's, and gauging is sequenced with the other trades so that staging, lighting and gas-freeing serve everyone working on board.
Planning a gauging job in Greece from India
Greece is in the Schengen area, so the team travels on Schengen visas issued for each job, and the visa lead time is the first item in the plan. Tell us the ship's name or IMO number, her class, the survey due or the purpose of the gauging, where she will lie and when, and we return a scope against the thickness measurement plan, the team size and the number of days.
If the ship may move between Perama and Elefsina, or out to an anchorage while she waits for a slot, say so at the start; the plan can follow her. Preliminary readings and photographs are shared at the end of each day where the superintendent wants them, so steel discussions with the yard can begin before the final report is issued.
Port pages in Greece
There are 19 Greece port pages: Piraeus, Thessaloniki, Elefsina, Salamina, Volos, Patras, Igoumenitsa, Heraklion, Kavala, Alexandroupoli, Rhodes, Souda, Syros, Agioi Theodoroi, Lavrio, Chalkida, Perama, Chios, Corfu. Each covers the ships that call, the yards and berths where gauging happens, the port state control picture and the jobs we see there; the links are under "In this section" below.
Governing codes and standards
- Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control
- IACS UR Z10 series: hull surveys and thickness measurement of oil tankers, bulk carriers and chemical tankers
- 2011 ESP Code (SOLAS chapter XI-1, regulation 2)
- MARPOL Annex VI, regulation 14: the Mediterranean Sea emission control area
- EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EU) No 1257/2013: Inventory of Hazardous Materials
What you receive
- Thickness measurement report to the ship's TM plan: as-built, measured and diminution at every point
- Pre-docking steel renewal estimate for the yard negotiation
- Pre-purchase condition gauging report for the buyer
- Reactivation report on ballast tanks, sea-water and fire-main piping after lay-up
- Scrubber wash-water and overboard piping wall-thickness tables
Industries served
- Bulk carriers
- Crude, product and chemical tankers
- Ro-pax ferries and cruise ships
- Container ships
- General cargo and multipurpose ships
- Greek ship owners and technical managers
- Ship buyers and sale-and-purchase brokers
- Repair yards
Frequently asked questions
Which Greek ports do you cover for ship thickness measurement?
Piraeus with the Perama repair zone, Salamina and Elefsina in Attica, with Agioi Theodoroi and Lavrio close by; Thessaloniki, Kavala, Alexandroupoli and Volos in the north; Patras and Igoumenitsa on the west coast; Chalkida; and the island ports of Syros, Heraklion, Souda and Rhodes. Each port page describes the ships that call, where gauging happens and the jobs we see there.
Can you gauge a Greek-managed ship that is docking outside Greece?
Yes, and it is one of the most frequent requests from Athens and Piraeus. Tell us where and when the ship will dock, her class and the survey due, and we plan the mobilisation to that yard. The readings and the report go to the technical department in Greece, so the superintendent can settle the steel list with the yard before arriving.
Can a ship be gauged at anchor off Piraeus or in Elefsina Bay?
Yes, by launch arranged through the ship's agent, provided the crew has emptied, ventilated and certified the agreed spaces before the team boards. Anchorage work suits pre-purchase, pre-docking and condition gauging on ships waiting for orders, a repair slot or a sale. In July and August the meltemi can interrupt launch services, so we keep spare days in the plan.
Do you gauge Greek ferries during their winter refit?
Yes. Winter is the practical time on Greek ro-pax ferries, because vehicle decks, ramps, voids and ballast tanks can be emptied and opened without taking the ship out of service in the busy months. We agree the scope with the superintendent and the yard at Perama, Salamina, Syros or wherever the refit takes place, and fit the readings around the other refit work.
How much notice do you need for a job in Greece?
As much as you can give. The team comes from India on Schengen visas arranged for each job, so the visa lead time sets the earliest possible start. Send the docking or arrival date as soon as it is known, even if it may still move, and we keep the mobilisation plan in step with the ship.
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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