Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement for Ships in Koper, Slovenia

Inspection services for ships at Koper

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

Where thickness gauging happens at the port of Koper

All Koper gauging is done afloat, at the terminals or at anchor. At the car terminal, deck and ramp gauging on car carriers is sequenced with the vehicle discharge and loading plan; at the container terminal, ballast tanks, hatch covers and scrubber piping are gauged around crane work; at the bulk terminal, holds become accessible once discharge is complete and the stevedores have cleared them. Each terminal has its own access and safety rules, and the ship's agent coordinates permits, passes and timing with Luka Koper so that the team is on board when the spaces open up.

Ships waiting for a berth anchor in the Gulf of Trieste, where launch access makes pre-purchase, on-hire and off-hire gauging possible without occupying a berth. When gauging in Koper is a prelude to a docking, the nearest ship-repair yards are a short distance away, including Viktor Lenac near Rijeka in Croatia, and the technicians can move on with the ship to the yard. Trieste and Monfalcone, across the gulf in Italy, can be covered in the same mobilisation when a fleet has ships in more than one north Adriatic port.

• Car terminal, Luka Koper — gauging of car decks, hoistable decks, internal and stern ramps and ballast tanks on car carriers, sequenced with vehicle operations
• Container terminal, Luka Koper — hatch coaming, cross-deck and ballast tank gauging plus scrubber outlet checks on deep-sea container ships
• Dry bulk terminal — large bulk carriers emptied of iron ore or coal, with holds, hopper and topside tanks and hatch covers then open for readings
• Liquid cargo terminals — deck, deck piping and accessible ballast tank gauging on product and chemical tankers within the cargo window
• Gulf of Trieste anchorage — ships awaiting a Koper berth, boarded by launch for buyers' inspections and on-hire or off-hire gauging

Port state control, emissions and the Koper hinterland trades

Slovenia carries out port state control in Koper as a member of the Paris MoU. The Gulf of Trieste lies within the Mediterranean SOx ECA, which took effect on 1 May 2025, so ships berthing at Koper use 0.10% sulphur fuel or a scrubber achieving an equivalent result. Many deep-sea container ships and car carriers calling at Koper make long passages from Asia, and for scrubber-fitted ships the system now stays on from the moment they pass into the Mediterranean; their wash-water and overboard piping is worth gauging on regular calls rather than leaving until the next docking.

Koper calls fall under EU ETS, which brought shipping in from 2024, and FuelEU Maritime, which started in 2025, as at any EU port, and they add weight to fleet-renewal decisions in the car carrier and bulk sectors, where older ships compete with newer, more efficient tonnage. A sale, recycling or life-extension decision on an older car carrier or bulk carrier rests on knowing the steel condition. Slovenia shares Schengen membership and the euro with Italy and Croatia, and Koper's position next to both borders makes it a natural part of a north Adriatic mobilisation covering several ports.

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

A gauging job at Koper runs the same way whatever the ship type. The sequence below is what the superintendent, the attending surveyor and the yard can expect from us.

Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport is Slovenia's main airport, and Trieste Airport and Venice Marco Polo are also within road distance, which gives a choice of flights for arrivals from India. Access to the terminals runs through Luka Koper's port security procedures, with passes requested by the ship's agent, who also books launches for ships at anchor. Entry to Slovenia, a Schengen state, is on Schengen visas for our India-based technicians. Car carrier and container calls usually follow known rotations, which helps with planning, and we confirm the berth window with the agent before the team travels.

• 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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