Thickness Measurement for Ships at the Port of Leixões, Porto

Inspection services for ships at Leixões

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

Where gauging takes place at Leixões

Leixões does not have a drydock sized for sea-going merchant ships, and ships that require a docking, bottom inspection or steel renewal go to yards further along the Portuguese coast or across the border in Galicia. The gauging that suits Leixões is the work done afloat: ballast tanks and void spaces on container ships and bulk carriers, hatch coamings and hold structure on bulkers after discharge, vehicle decks and ramps on ro-ro ships, deck plating and piping on tankers, and scrubber piping on any ship with an exhaust gas cleaning system.

The container and ro-ro terminals have long quays with steady berths. The bulk berths allow empty holds to be inspected, and the oil terminal in the outer harbour lets us gauge deck areas and ballast spaces during discharge. Cruise ships at the Leixões cruise terminal offer a short turnaround window for tanks and machinery-space pipework. The anchorage off the breakwaters is available for ships waiting for a berth, with launch boats arranged through the ship's agent. Any space that needs entry is gauged under the ship's enclosed-space permit system.

• Container terminals — ballast-tank, hatch-cover and deck gauging on feeder ships during cargo work.
• Ro-ro berths — vehicle decks, ramps, ballast tanks and void spaces on ro-ro vessels and car carriers.
• Bulk berths — holds, coamings and tank-top plating on dry bulk carriers after discharge.
• Oil terminal, outer harbour — deck plating, deck piping and accessible ballast tanks on product tankers.
• Leixões cruise terminal — turnaround-window gauging of scrubber piping, tanks and machinery-space pipework.
• Anchorage off the breakwaters — launch-served gauging on ships waiting for a berth, in calm conditions.

Port state control and regulation at Leixões

Portugal is a Paris MoU state, and port state control inspections at Leixões, as at other Portuguese ports, are carried out under the Directorate-General for Natural Resources, Safety and Maritime Services, known by its acronym DGRM, with the harbour master's office running the day-to-day port administration. The regime follows the Paris MoU's risk targeting, so older tankers, bulk carriers and ships with deficiencies on record are inspected more frequently. A measured gauging record taken before arrival gives the superintendent a clear view of what an inspector may find.

EU rules also shape the market. Shipping has been inside the EU ETS since 2024 and FuelEU Maritime has applied since 2025, which affects how owners plan for older tonnage. The EU Ship Recycling Regulation requires an Inventory of Hazardous Materials on ships calling at EU ports, and thickness measurement is often arranged in the same period as the IHM update. Because Leixões receives many feeder ships on regular loops, owners often schedule one gauging stop per year and compare results against the previous report to see how fast wastage is progressing in ballast tanks and on deck.

Wherever a ship is outside a sulphur emission control area, the global 0.50% sulphur cap applies, and many of the ships calling at Leixões meet it with an exhaust gas cleaning system rather than compliant fuel. Scrubber wash-water piping, the overboard discharge and the hull penetration around it corrode quickly in service, especially on open-loop systems, and are worth adding to the gauging scope.

How a thickness measurement job runs at Leixões

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

Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport serves Porto and lies a short drive from Leixões, with flights from most European hubs; technicians from India usually connect through Lisbon or another European city. Port access at the terminals is arranged by the ship's agent, who also books a launch for ships at the anchorage. Portugal belongs to the Schengen area, so Schengen visas are obtained in India before departure, and the application begins once the call is confirmed and the owner has supplied an invitation letter naming the vessel. Ships' schedules can move, so we confirm travel against the latest agent update.

• 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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