Ship Thickness Measurement in Izmir, Aliağa and Nemrut Bay

Inspection services for ships at Izmir

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

Gauging locations in Izmir and Aliağa

At Aliağa and Nemrut Bay most gauging is done during cargo calls. Refinery and petrochemical jetties allow work on deck, deck piping and certified ballast tanks within terminal permit rules; the scrap and bulk berths allow hold gauging as each hold is emptied, which is exactly the moment to measure grab and magnet damage on tank tops, hopper plating and frames; and the container terminals in Nemrut Bay give access to ballast tanks and scrubber piping during the ship's stay. Anchorage work in the bay is by launch, arranged through the agent. Tanker gauging at Aliağa usually runs in parallel with cargo work, so the plan is agreed with the terminal before the ship berths.

In the city, the Izmir port at Alsancak handles container ships, general cargo ships and cruise calls, where gauging is planned around terminal operations and the ship's sailing time. Gauging is of little use once a ship has been sold for recycling; its value in Aliağa lies with ships that are still trading, or whose owners are still deciding whether they should. For those owners, readings taken on a cargo call can settle the question before a docking slot is booked anywhere.

• Tüpraş Izmir refinery and STAR refinery jetties at Aliağa — deck, deck piping and ballast tank gauging on crude and product tankers within terminal rules
• Petkim and liquid terminals in Nemrut Bay — chemical tankers and gas carriers gauged at berth on deck, piping and ballast spaces
• Scrap and bulk berths at Aliağa — hold, hopper, frame and tank top gauging on bulk carriers as each hold is discharged
• Nemrut Bay container terminals — ballast tank, deck and scrubber piping checks on container ships during terminal stays
• Izmir port at Alsancak — container, general cargo and cruise ships gauged during port stays under ISPS rules
• Anchorages off Aliağa and in the Gulf of Izmir — pre-docking and condition gauging on ships waiting for berths, boarded by launch

Port state control, emissions rules and the recycling framework

Turkey's Aegean ports carry out port state control under the Mediterranean MoU; Turkey is also a member of the Black Sea MoU. The Aegean is part of the Mediterranean SOx ECA, in force since 1 May 2025, so ships calling at Izmir and Aliağa burn 0.10% sulphur fuel or use scrubbers, and the wash-water piping on scrubber-fitted tankers and bulk carriers is well worth inspecting while the ship is quiet at berth. Ships trading between Izmir and EU ports carry EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime obligations for those voyages.

The recycling framework also shapes owner decisions. Turkey is a party to the Hong Kong Convention, which entered into force on 26 June 2025, and EU-flagged ships must be recycled at yards on the European List, which includes several in Aliağa. Both regimes require an inventory of hazardous materials and documented preparation, so a ship's final years are planned rather than improvised. Ships approaching their fourth or fifth renewal survey, at about 20 or 25 years, are where the choice between continued trading and recycling becomes real, and a well-planned pre-docking gauging gives the owner the measured steel renewal estimate needed to make that choice on facts.

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

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

The team flies into Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport, usually via Istanbul, and travels by road to Alsancak or north to Aliağa and Nemrut Bay. Terminal and refinery access, ISPS passes and launches for ships at anchor are arranged through the ship's agent, and we send crew lists, certificates and equipment details ahead so permits are ready on arrival. A Turkish visa is required for each technician coming from India; because scrap and tanker calls at Aliağa are often fixed only a few weeks out, early notice of a likely call lets us have visas in hand when the berth is confirmed.

• 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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