Heraklion, Crete: Ultrasonic Gauging for Ferries, Tankers and Cargo Ships

Inspection services for ships at Heraklion

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

Where gauging can be done in and around Heraklion

Within the harbour, gauging is done alongside at the ferry and cargo quays, subject to the port authority's ISPS arrangements and the ship's agent. Cargo ships discharging bulk or general cargo offer open holds and hatch covers for a day or two, while product tankers at the fuel berths are limited to deck, deck piping and ballast tanks inside the terminal's permit rules. For ro-pax ferries the useful spaces are the vehicle decks, ramps, ballast tanks and voids, which are easiest to open when the ship is out of service.

Heraklion is not a major ship-repair centre and has no large drydock, so ships needing hull steel work normally go to the repair zones near Athens, or to yards elsewhere in the Aegean or the wider Mediterranean. That makes gauging here a preparation step. Readings taken during a Heraklion layover give the technical manager a measured picture to send to yards when requesting steel renewal quotations, and they let the docking be planned without surprises. Where a vessel is laid up in the harbour for the winter, a longer gauging programme is realistic.

• Passenger and ferry quays — vehicle deck, ramp and ballast tank readings on ro-pax ships during layovers or winter lay-up
• Cargo and container berths — hatch cover, coaming, hold and deck gauging on general cargo and container ships during discharge
• Fuel berths — deck, deck piping and ballast tank gauging on product tankers, within the terminal's permit-to-work system
• Cruise berths and anchorage — tank and void readings on cruise ships where the turnaround allows access
• Winter lay-up berths — extended gauging of ships idle between seasons, planned with the owner's refit list

Port state control and island shipping rules

Greece belongs to the Paris MoU, and port state control inspections at Heraklion are carried out by the Hellenic Coast Guard, which also oversees the safety of the many passenger ships serving the islands. Ferries on domestic routes face frequent inspections and survey cycles tied to passenger certificates, so owners keep structural condition records closely. The Mediterranean emission control area for sulphur, in force from 1 May 2025, covers Cretan waters. EU ETS has covered shipping since 2024 and FuelEU Maritime since 2025, and both affect voyages between Piraeus and Crete.

For ships calling at EU ports, the Ship Recycling Regulation requires an Inventory of Hazardous Materials on board, and a sale or change of manager may prompt a fresh look at the hull as well as the paperwork. Island ferries carry passengers all year, so owners take steel wastage on vehicle decks and ballast tanks seriously and prefer to find it between seasons. Fuel and bulk shipping to Crete is often managed from Piraeus, which means a gauging decision taken in an Athens technical department may be carried out at Heraklion on the next suitable call.

Since 1 May 2025 the whole Mediterranean has been a sulphur emission control area, so ships calling at Heraklion 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.

How a thickness measurement job runs at Heraklion

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

The team flies in to Heraklion's Nikos Kazantzakis Airport, usually connecting through Athens, and reaches the harbour by road within the city. Port passes under ISPS, access to the fuel berths and any launch boarding are arranged through the ship's agent, with crew lists, technician certificates and equipment lists sent beforehand. Greece is a Schengen state, so each technician needs a Schengen visa issued in India. Ferry schedules are fixed months ahead, so telling us the winter refit dates early lets the visa applications start well before the ship is available.

• 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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