Hull Structural Integrity · Le Havre, France

Structural Corrosion and Crack Inspection for Ships Calling at Le Havre

At Le Havre a corroded hatch coaming or a wasted air pipe can turn a port state control visit into a detention, and the structure behind them is rarely seen in a short call. Hull structural integrity inspection here records corrosion pattern, deformation and cracking alongside thickness readings, on container ships at Port 2000, tankers at the oil berths, bulkers on the Seine and ships on lay-by. A team is mobilised from India to the vessel and plans the work around the berth, the anchorage or the basin.

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Findings before the inspector asks

Paris MoU targeting rewards ships with a clean record and punishes visible wastage. Gauging and examining coamings, air pipes and tank boundaries before the call tells the master where the structure stands.

Tanker ballast tanks at anchor

Ballast tanks on a laden tanker are empty at the Baie de Seine anchorage and fill when discharge begins. Inspecting them there gives a structural picture that the berth would not allow.

Double bottoms on large boxships

Container ships calling at Port 2000 are inspected at double-bottom and wing tank boundaries, coaming corners and cross-deck structure, with cracks confirmed by magnetic particle testing where cleaned.

Where can hull structural inspection be done around Le Havre?

The port offers several working places, and the scope depends on which one the ship lies at. At the Port 2000 terminals the container ship is working cargo, so inspection concentrates on ballast tanks and voids, cross-deck structure and areas the cargo plan leaves free. In the inner basins behind the locks, ships on lay-by have no cargo operation, and a structural inspection can go through tanks and internal structure at a steady pace.

At the oil berths and the Antifer crude terminal, cargo tanks are not entered during cargo operations and the terminal's rules govern instruments on deck. The Baie de Seine anchorage, served by launch, is where ships wait for berths or orders, and it is the best chance for ballast tanks on a laden tanker. The old-port dry docks and repair quays take small and mid-sized ships such as ferries and dredgers, where a dry hull is available. Upriver, Rouen's grain terminals are reached by road for bulk carriers.

Port 2000: ballast tanks, coamings and cross-deck structure within the berth window.
Inner basins: tank internals and structure on lay-by ships.
Antifer and oil berths: ballast tanks and deck structure on tankers.
Baie de Seine anchorage: launch-served ballast tank inspection.
Old-port docks: dry hull inspection on smaller ships.

Why does structural condition matter for Paris MoU inspections?

France applies port state control under the Paris MoU, and Le Havre's place on the Asia–North Europe and transatlantic loops brings a steady flow of foreign-flag ships through that regime. Targeting is risk-based: older ships and ships with a poor record are inspected more often. The findings that stand out to an inspector are visible ones, such as heavy wastage of hatch coamings, holed air pipes, corroded ladders and cracked or buckled deck structure.

A structural inspection before the call is not a substitute for repair, but it turns uncertainty into a list. If a coaming corner has a crack, the superintendent can arrange a temporary or permanent repair at the next opportunity. If the structure is sound, the master has evidence of condition to show an inspector. Either way, the ship is not learning about its own steel from someone else.

Older ships benefit most. The Paris MoU weights age and past deficiencies, so a vessel with several years of steel wastage behind it is more likely to be selected, and the coamings, ventilator heads, air pipes and ladders on its weather deck are what an inspector sees first. Our inspection treats those items as part of the structural record, measuring the thickness of each air pipe and coaming top plate, noting coating breakdown, and listing anything that would look poor on a walk-round. Items that need steel renewal are separated from items that need only coating repair, so the superintendent can order the right repair at the right port.

What structural damage is typical on tankers and bulk carriers here?

Crude and product tankers calling at the oil terminals and Antifer show their age in ballast tanks and cargo tank bottoms. Wastage concentrates on horizontal members in ballast tanks, on bottom plating where water and sediment settle, and at weld lines where grooving can run along a longitudinal. Coating failure drives most of it, so the inspection records coating condition alongside corrosion. Cracks occur at known fatigue details such as bracket toes and longitudinal end connections.

Bulk carriers loading grain at Rouen suffer less from abrasion than ore carriers, but hold frames, lower brackets and hatch cover seatings still deserve close attention, and ballast tanks show the usual corrosion. Because both ship types are enhanced survey ships, the inspection also helps a technical department prepare the survey programme, identifying suspect areas the surveyor will expect to see measured again.

Chemical tankers add a further consideration: stainless steel tanks do not corrode like carbon steel, so the inspection there concentrates on the carbon steel ballast tanks and the weather deck, plus cracks at supports and welds, and leaves the cargo tank linings and coatings to the specialists who normally assess them.

How are container ships inspected at Port 2000?

On a large boxship the structure that matters is the hull girder around the deck openings: coamings, hatch corners, deck longitudinals and cross-deck structure, where stress is highest and fatigue cracks start. Below deck, double-bottom and wing tank boundaries show the effect of ballast corrosion, and the side shell in the wind-and-water zone loses coating to wave action and fenders.

The berth window limits what can be reached. Weather deck and coamings can be examined between crane moves on bays already worked; tanks need the chief officer's release and the usual ventilation and testing. Scrubber wash-water and overboard piping, on ships fitted with them, are added to the condition picture because the North Sea emission control area covers the Channel and the systems run for the whole approach.

What is recorded, and what should be sent beforehand?

The report gives gauged thickness by frame, strake and member, with the corrosion pattern, pit depth where pitting is present, deformation measured against a straight edge and cracks confirmed by magnetic particle or penetrant testing. Technicians work under our ASNT SNT-TC-1A written practice. Crack detection results are owner's NDT records that support the class engineer, not a survey credit.

Send the ship type, age, last survey dates, berth times and known damage. For tankers, tell us the ballast condition on arrival and whether an anchorage stay is expected. Teams fly into Paris Charles de Gaulle and continue by road or rail, and the agent requests ISPS passes and books launches. France is in the Schengen area, so Schengen visas are needed once the call is firm.

Where hull structural integrity sits in the survey cycle

Class rules set the survey cycle, and the cycle sets how much gauging a ship needs. A superintendent planning a call at Le Havre usually knows which survey is due; the table shows what the thickness measurement for each one typically involves. The exact extent comes from the class rules for the ship type and the surveyor attending, so the thickness measurement programme is agreed with the class before work starts.

Survey	When it falls	What the thickness measurement usually covers
Annual survey	Every year, within three months of the anniversary date	General examination. Gauging where the surveyor finds suspect areas or where substantial corrosion was recorded at an earlier survey.
Intermediate survey	In place of the second or third annual survey	Suspect areas, and on older ships and ESP ships selected ballast and cargo spaces with close-up survey; the extent grows with age.
Renewal survey No. 1	Around 5 years	The first full baseline: suspect areas and selected plating and stiffeners, usually with modest steel renewal.
Renewal survey No. 2	Around 10 years	Wider gauging of deck, bottom and side plating, transverse sections across the cargo area on ESP ships, and more close-up survey.
Renewal survey No. 3	Around 15 years	Extensive gauging of cargo and ballast tank structure and more transverse sections. The survey most likely to turn up steel renewal.
Renewal survey No. 4 and later	Around 20 and 25 years	Gauging extended to most structural members in cargo and ballast spaces. Charterers often add a Condition Assessment Programme.
Docking survey	Twice in each five-year period	Bottom and side shell, sea chests, rudder and stern area while the hull is dry; suspect bottom plating gauged.

How the job runs at Le Havre

The sequence for a thickness measurement job at Le Havre is short and written down, so the yard, the surveyor and the superintendent know who arranges what.

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.

Who does the work, and when class approval applies

We send the team from India to the ship for each job rather than keeping staff at the port, and plan the mobilisation around visas and the vessel's itinerary. The work is planned and supervised by the founder, our Responsible NDT Level III (ASNT NDT Level III in UT, RT, MT, PT and VT, with more than eleven years of international field experience). Technicians hold certification under the company's written practice to ASNT SNT-TC-1A; Atlantis is ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified.

Thickness measurement that a classification society credits to a class survey has to be carried out by a firm approved by that society under IACS UR Z17. Atlantis is in the process of obtaining UR Z17 approval from DNV, Lloyd's Register and ABS. Until a certificate is issued, the readings we take are for the owner's own decisions, not for credit to a class survey, so tell us the vessel's class and the survey due when you enquire and we set the scope for the right purpose. Owner's and charterer's condition gauging, pre-docking steel estimates, pre-purchase and on-hire or off-hire gauging, and scrubber and piping condition checks between surveys do not need class approval.

Governing codes and standards

IACS UR Z7 (hull classification surveys)
IACS UR Z10.1 and Z10.4 (enhanced surveys of oil tankers and bulk carriers)
SOLAS chapter XI-1, regulation 2 and the ESP Code
IMO Performance Standard for Protective Coatings, resolution MSC.215(82)
ASTM E797 and ASTM E709 (thickness gauging and magnetic particle testing)
ASNT SNT-TC-1A (personnel qualification under the written practice)

What you receive

Thickness readings by frame, strake and member with diminution against original
Corrosion pattern record including pitting depth and grooving
Coating condition notes for each tank inspected
Crack detection record with positions and test method
List of areas not reached and the reason

Industries served

Container ships at Port 2000
Crude and product tankers
Chemical tankers
Bulk carriers loading grain at Rouen
Car carriers and ro-ro ships
Ro-pax ferries and port craft
Offshore wind installation and service vessels

Frequently asked questions

Can a structural inspection reduce detention risk at Le Havre?

No inspection can promise an outcome, but it tells the master and superintendent where visible wastage or cracking exists before an inspector arrives. Coamings, air pipes, ladders and deck structure are the usual targets. Repairs can then be planned instead of discovered during a Paris MoU visit.

Which tanks can be inspected on a tanker at Le Havre?

Ballast tanks, mainly. They are empty on a laden arrival and can be entered at the Baie de Seine anchorage once ventilated and tested. Cargo tanks are not entered during cargo operations at the oil berths or Antifer, so they are left for a cleaned and gas-free condition or the dock.

What structural areas on a container ship can be examined during a call?

Weather deck, hatch coamings and corners on bays that are already worked, cross-deck structure, machinery spaces and any tanks the chief officer can release. Holds under working cranes are closed. The plan is agreed beforehand and the unfinished part is recorded for the next call.

Can cracks be found as well as thickness loss?

Yes. Suspect details are cleaned locally and tested by magnetic particle inspection, or by penetrant testing where the surface requires it. The record gives position, length and orientation. These are owner's NDT records that support the class engineer's assessment, and they carry no class credit of their own.

Is dry hull inspection possible at Le Havre?

The old-port dry docks take small and mid-sized ships such as ferries, dredgers and port craft, and for those a dry hull inspection is possible. Large ships calling at Port 2000 normally dock at yards in other countries, so afloat inspection here prepares the work that will be done there.

Can hull structural integrity at Le Havre be credited to a class survey?

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.

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Request 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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