Thickness Measurement for Tankers and LNG Carriers at Milford Haven

Inspection services for ships at Milford Haven

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

Jetties, anchorages and quays on the Haven

Tanker inspection at Milford Haven jetties is done under the terminal's rules. That means an agreed permit, terminal requirements on the equipment that may be taken into hazardous areas, and restrictions during cargo transfer, so in-service gauging alongside concentrates on what can be done safely: engine-room and ballast piping, structure in the accommodation and machinery areas, and deck areas the terminal releases. The ship's own permit system runs in parallel, and both have to agree before a tank lid is opened.

Ships waiting to berth anchor in the approaches or within the Haven, and that is where much of the deck and tank work is best done, reached by launch through the ship's agent. A tanker that has completed tank cleaning at anchor can have cargo and ballast tanks gauged in sequence without the clock of a jetty slot. Pembroke Dock and Milford Dock give ordinary quay access for ferries, offshore vessels and smaller cargo ships, where routine in-service gauging is straightforward. Pembroke Dock ferry inspection fits around the Rosslare timetable, with the crew preparing vehicle-deck areas and tanks before the ship berths.

• Valero Pembroke refinery jetties — engine-room, ballast and accessible deck piping gauging on crude and product tankers under the terminal's permit system.
• South Hook LNG terminal — ballast and piping checks on large LNG carriers, planned within the terminal's rules around the discharge.
• Dragon LNG terminal — LNG carrier gauging planned with the terminal and the ship's manager around the discharge window.
• Anchorages in and off the Haven — launch-borne deck, vent and tank gauging on tankers waiting for a berth or after tank cleaning.
• Pembroke Dock ferry berth — vehicle-deck, ramp and ballast tank checks on the Rosslare ro-pax, worked around its timetable.
• Pembroke Port and Milford Dock quays — in-service gauging on offshore renewable support vessels and cargo ships alongside.

Tanker vetting, sulphur rules and port state control at Milford Haven

For tanker managers, the regulatory picture at Milford Haven is dominated by the ESP regime and by vetting. Oil tankers fall under the Enhanced Survey Programme of SOLAS chapter XI-1 regulation 2 and the 2011 ESP Code, and from the third renewal survey onwards the extent of cargo and ballast tank gauging grows sharply. Oil-major vetting under OCIMF's SIRE 2.0 regime and charterers' requests for a CAP rating on tankers over about fifteen years old add commercial pressure, and the terminals on the Haven apply their own acceptance criteria before a ship is allowed alongside.

Milford Haven sits outside the North Sea Emission Control Area, so ships may burn 0.50% sulphur fuel on passage, though at berth in the Haven, as in every UK port, a stay of two hours or more requires 0.10% fuel. That changes at sea on 1 September 2028, when the North-East Atlantic ECA adopted in 2026 applies the 0.10% limit in the waters west of the UK. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency inspects foreign ships on the Haven, following Paris MoU procedures under UK law since Brexit. Tankers arriving from Rotterdam, Antwerp or other EU ports have half of those voyages counted under the EU ETS.

Wherever a ship is outside a sulphur emission control area, the global 0.50% sulphur cap applies, and many of the ships calling at Milford Haven 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 Milford Haven

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

Cardiff Airport and Bristol Airport are the nearest international airports, and teams often arrive through Heathrow and continue west by rail or road to Pembrokeshire. The refinery and LNG terminals apply strict ISPS and site-induction rules, so the ship's agent arranges passes and any terminal inductions in advance, and books launches for anchorage work with the port's local providers. The team travels from India on UK visas; because tanker and LNG schedules can move by days, we plan the visit with a margin either side of the expected arrival.

• 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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