Ultrasonic Thickness Gauging for Ships at Messina and the Strait

Inspection services for ships at Messina

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

Where ships can be gauged in Messina

The principal facility is the repair yard on the Messina waterfront, part of an established Mediterranean repair group, with graving docks used for dockings, hull repairs and conversions on cargo ships, passenger ships and ferries. During a docking the gauging team works to the yard's programme, taking readings of the bottom shell, sea chests, rudder and stern structure and cleaned tanks before blasting, so that original surfaces are measured. The results feed the steel renewal list agreed between the owner, the yard and the class surveyor in the first days of the docking.

Afloat gauging takes place at the ferry berths and the commercial quays. A Strait ferry laid by for planned maintenance can be gauged in blocks across the lay-by period, while hydrofoils and fast craft are measured during winter lay-up. The naval arsenal and other restricted areas are outside commercial access. Ships at anchor in the Strait are difficult to reach because of the currents and shipping lanes, so anchorage work is limited and depends on a launch and a suitable weather and tide window. Milazzo and the Calabrian ports can be added to one mobilisation by road and ferry.

• Messina repair yard graving docks — full hull, sea chest, rudder and stern structure gauging during dockings of ferries, cargo ships and passenger ships
• Yard repair quays — afloat gauging of tanks, decks and internal structure during refit work before and after undocking
• Strait ferry berths — car-ferry hull, ramp and tank readings taken over successive lay-by periods in the shuttle schedule
• Hydrofoil and fast-craft berths — aluminium and steel hull gauging with a gauge calibrated for the alloy, mostly in winter lay-up
• Commercial quays — general cargo ships and tankers gauged between cargo operations
• Passenger terminal — cruise ships gauged during short turnarounds, mainly void spaces and scrubber lines

Strait regulations, port state control and ferry structure

Messina follows the Paris MoU port state control system, with inspections carried out by the Italian Coast Guard, the Guardia Costiera. Passenger ferries and high-speed craft in scheduled service are also covered by the EU's dedicated inspection regime, so structural condition on a Strait ferry gets close attention. The Strait itself is a busy, regulated waterway with traffic separation and mandatory reporting for ships transiting it, and the crossing ferries share it with long-haul merchant traffic; hull damage from contact at berth or in strong current is a real risk, and thickness readings help separate real damage from old wastage.

EU rules add further drivers. The Ship Recycling Regulation requires an Inventory of Hazardous Materials for ships calling at EU ports, and EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime apply to larger vessels. For the crossing ferries, many of which are older tonnage working intense schedules, the decision whether to renew steel, convert or replace a ship rests on measured condition, and docking records from the Messina yard are the natural starting point. Aluminium craft raise their own checks, since corrosion at joints and in wet spaces differs from steel wastage.

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

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

Reggio Calabria and Catania airports are the nearest gateways and each is reached by road, with Naples and Palermo offering wider connections. Access to the repair yard is arranged through the owner or the yard, and the ship's agent arranges ISPS passes for the ferry and commercial berths. The team travels from India and needs Schengen visas, so dates should be confirmed early; dockings are usually booked well ahead, while ferry lay-by work needs the operator's schedule as soon as it is known.

• 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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