Thickness Measurement for Ro-Pax Ferries and Ships at the Port of Patras

Inspection services for ships at Patras

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

Gauging at the Patras ferry terminals and in the gulf

Most Patras gauging takes place on ferries alongside the south port berths. With the vehicles discharged, the lower and main vehicle decks, internal ramps, the stern ramp and its hinges, and the shell door surrounds are accessible, and voids and ballast tanks can be added if the crew can empty and certify them before the next loading. Linkspan landing areas, mooring decks and the steel around lashing points are routinely included. Because time alongside is fixed, the scope is ordered so that the most important structure is finished first and the remainder rolls over to the next call or the refit, without the ferry ever missing a departure.

There is no large ship-repair yard at Patras, so ferries go elsewhere for docking and heavy steel renewal: to the Perama, Salamina and Elefsina yards in Attica, to Chalkida, or to yards abroad chosen by the operator. Gauging at Patras is therefore preparation for the refit as much as a survey in itself. An operator who has measured vehicle decks, tanks and shell framing over several calls can give the yard a firm scope before the ship arrives, which keeps an already short refit on schedule. For cargo ships at the older quays and ships at anchor in the gulf, the work is the familiar afloat kind: holds, hatch covers, deck and ballast tanks as cargo operations and tank preparation allow.

• South port ro-pax berths: vehicle deck, internal ramp, stern ramp and shell door gauging during layovers between Adriatic sailings
• Ferry lay-day berths: longer scopes covering ballast tanks, voids and shell framing from inside
• Older harbour quays: hold, hatch cover and deck gauging on general cargo ships during discharge
• Gulf of Patras anchorage: condition and pre-purchase gauging by launch on ships waiting for a berth or orders
• Attica, Chalkida and overseas yards: where Patras ferries dock for bottom gauging and heavy steel renewal

Ro-pax inspection rules and the Adriatic ferry fleet

Patras is a Paris MoU port, with port state control and harbour supervision by the Hellenic Coast Guard. For the ferries, the more frequent regime is the EU system of inspections for ro-pax ships and high-speed craft in regular service, Directive (EU) 2017/2110, under which the host state inspects each ship before it starts a service and at regular intervals afterwards, including during a scheduled crossing. Hull condition, watertight and weathertight closures, shell doors and vehicle decks are part of what those inspections look at. Ships calling at EU ports also need an Inventory of Hazardous Materials under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, and the Italy routes fall under the EU Emissions Trading System and FuelEU Maritime.

The age of the fleet makes structural data valuable. Much of the Adriatic ferry tonnage has been in service long enough that its vehicle decks have carried heavy freight on thousands of crossings, its ballast tanks have outlived their original coatings, and its shell doors and ramps have cycled open and shut on every call. Operators facing renewal surveys must decide whether to renew steel, rebuild a deck or replace the ship, and route deployment depends on that answer too. Measured data from Patras layovers, collected over a season, turns a refit from a voyage of discovery into a planned job with a known steel list, and gives the operator firmer ground when a ship is offered for sale or charter.

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

Most of the work on a Patras job happens before the team boards: scope, plan and access are settled first, so the time on board goes on measurement.

Athens International Airport is the usual arrival point, with the motorway along the Gulf of Corinth leading west to Patras; Araxos airport, west of the city, has mainly seasonal flights. The south port is a controlled ISPS area, and the ferry operator or the ship's agent arranges passes and boarding with the technicians' details and equipment lists. Each technician needs a Schengen visa issued in India. For refit preparation spread over several calls, we suggest a visa that covers the whole season of layovers rather than a single date.

• 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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