Ice-Class and Tanker Thickness Measurement at the Port of Naantali

Inspection services for ships at Naantali

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

Where gauging is done at and near Naantali

At the oil harbour a product tanker is alongside for the length of her loading or discharge, and the realistic scope is the deck, cargo-line supports, ballast tanks that the crew have emptied and ventilated, and the pump room, subject to the terminal's permit rules. At the ro-pax berth, work is confined to the ship's turnaround, so scopes are staged over several calls. Dry bulk quays give hold access after discharge, which is the right time for frames and hopper plating.

Naantali's repair yard sits on Luonnonmaa island, close to the harbour, with a drydock and a floating dock that serve ships of the Baltic and the Gulf of Finland. A ship that docks there can be gauged in the dock for renewal survey, but the more economical sequence is often to take readings alongside a few weeks earlier, so the yard receives a complete steel list with the booking. The same technique applies to ships that dock at other yards in Finland, Estonia or Poland.

• Oil harbour berths — deck plating, cargo-line supports, pump room piping and gas-free ballast tanks on product tankers.
• Ro-pax berth — vehicle decks, ramps, fire main and sea-water piping on the Sweden-route ferry during turnarounds.
• Dry bulk quays — hold frames, tank tops, hopper plating and coamings on bulk carriers after discharge.
• Luonnonmaa repair yard — in-dock gauging for renewal surveys and verification of readings taken afloat.
• Archipelago Sea anchorages — launch-borne scopes for ships waiting for a berth or the pilot station.
• Yards in Turku, Tallinn and Gdańsk — alternative dockings, planned from Naantali readings.

Traficom, ice class and the Finnish winter

Port state control in Finland is part of the Paris MoU system and is carried out by inspectors from the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, Traficom. Tankers, ro-pax ferries and bulk carriers are all in the regime's targeting, and a ship with a poor record or a recent detention should expect early inspection. Ro-pax operators on regular Baltic routes are also subject to the EU directive on inspection of ro-ro passenger ships, which makes structure around doors and ramps, fire mains and bilge systems subjects of regular attention.

Finland applies winter navigation restrictions each season: ships calling at Finnish ports in ice conditions must meet minimum ice-class and engine-power requirements, which are set according to the severity of the ice. Ice-class ships carry thicker plating and extra framing along the ice belt, and the belt wears from repeated contact with ice and from abrasion. Owners schedule gauging of this area before and after the winter to track wastage, plan renewal and support survey decisions. The EU Ship Recycling Regulation, the emissions trading scheme and FuelEU Maritime apply to ships on these routes too.

Ships trading to Naantali are inside a sulphur emission control area, where fuel must not exceed 0.10% sulphur unless an exhaust gas cleaning system (scrubber) is fitted. Scrubber wash-water piping, the overboard discharge and the hull penetration around it are among the fastest-corroding parts of a modern ship, so they belong in the gauging scope at every docking and, on open-loop systems, between dockings.

How a thickness measurement job runs at Naantali

A gauging job at Naantali runs the same way whatever the ship type. The sequence below is what the superintendent, the attending surveyor and the yard can expect from us.

Teams normally arrive at Turku Airport or at Helsinki-Vantaa and continue by road or rail towards Naantali; Turku is the closer option, with Helsinki offering more flight connections. Finland is a Schengen state, so technicians from India need Schengen visas and should apply well ahead. Access to the oil harbour and the ferry berth is controlled by the port and the terminal, and the ship's agent arranges passes, launches for the anchorage and communication with the pilots.

• 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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