Ultrasonic Thickness Gauging for Ferries and Ships Calling at Lavrio

Inspection services for ships at Lavrio

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

Gauging a ship at Lavrio without a drydock

Lavrio has no merchant drydock or large repair yard, so the gauging done here is afloat work: on a ferry at its berth between sailings, on a ship laid up in the harbour or the bay over winter, or on a vessel stopping for a few days for repairs carried out alongside by mobile contractors. Afloat, a ro-pax ferry gives access to its vehicle decks, ramps and their hinges, the side shell from inside, ballast and fuel tank boundaries, and voids, provided the tanks can be emptied and certified safe. Bottom plating, sea chests and the underwater hull wait for a docking, and the readings taken here are arranged so they slot straight into that later survey.

When a Lavrio ferry does dock, it usually goes to Perama, Salamina or the Elefsina bay, all within a short passage, or to the Neorion yard at Syros, which serves much of the Cyclades fleet. Readings taken in Lavrio before the ship sails let the operator send a steel estimate with the docking enquiry and compare yards on the same basis. For small craft such as day ferries, workboats and yachts, hull work is often done wherever they are hauled out, and gauging can simply be added to that programme. Ships at anchor off the port are boarded by launch arranged through the agent, which works well in the shelter of the bay.

• Ferry berths in the commercial port: car deck, ramp, void and tank gauging during overnight stays and winter timetable gaps
• Winter lay-up berths in the harbour: longer condition and pre-season surveys on idle ro-pax ferries
• Anchorage in the bay sheltered by Makronisos: launch-borne gauging on ships waiting off the port
• Lay-by quays: piping, deck and steel readings during repairs carried out afloat by mobile contractors
• Perama, Salamina, Elefsina and Syros yards: where Lavrio ferries usually dock when bottom gauging or steel renewal is needed

Passenger ship rules and the ferry trade from Lavrio

Lavrio falls under the Paris MoU, and port state control and harbour supervision are the responsibility of the Hellenic Coast Guard. Most ships calling are Greek-flagged ferries on domestic routes, so their structure is checked mainly through flag and class surveys under the EU rules for passenger ships on domestic voyages, with the Coast Guard inspecting them in port. Ro-pax ships carry features that cargo ships lack: long open vehicle decks, shell doors and ramps, and openings whose integrity matters for stability. Corrosion of vehicle-deck plating and its stiffeners, often hidden under paint and tyre wear, and of ramp hinges and their foundations, therefore gets close attention at every survey.

The commercial side drives the timing. Greek coastal shipping is seasonal, and operators plan dockings, refits and route changes for the winter months, when an idle ferry earns nothing and every survey item has to be closed before the timetable restarts in spring. Many ferries in Greek service were bought second-hand and have traded for a long time, so their ballast tanks, voids and vehicle decks have aged well past the original coating life. An operator who measures those areas in Lavrio over the winter, rather than discovering the scope in dock, can agree steel renewal with the yard in advance and keep the docking short. The same data supports a sale or a charter to another operator.

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

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

Athens International Airport is the arrival point, and Lavrio is reached from there by road through the Mesogeia plain. Entry to the commercial port is under ISPS control, so the ship's agent or the ferry operator arranges passes in advance with the technicians' details and equipment list; launches for ships at anchor are booked the same way. Each technician travels on a Schengen visa obtained in India. For winter lay-up work, the most practical approach is to confirm dates when the operator fixes its docking plan, which leaves time for the visas.

• 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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