Hull and Tank Gauging at the Perama Ship Repair Zone

Inspection services for ships at Perama

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

Where the gauging happens in the repair zone

The Perama ship repair zone runs along the shore as a chain of quays, floating docks and yard areas under the Piraeus port authority's umbrella, with private repair companies working inside it. The usual pattern is two-stage. A ship first lies afloat at a repair quay, where decks, hatch coamings, side shell above the waterline and accessible tanks can be gauged while mechanical work goes on, and then goes onto a floating dock, where the bottom, sea chests and rudder area become available after the hull is washed and blasted.

Readings on a floating dock have to be taken once the bottom is clean and before the first coat goes on, a window that can be a matter of hours. For that reason the team is usually mobilised to arrive as the ship lifts, with the plan and frame references agreed beforehand with the superintendent and the yard foreman. Smaller craft such as tugs and workboats are hauled on slipways in the neighbouring yards, where the shell can be gauged at eye level. Everything is arranged with the yard and the ship's agent, including gate passes, hot-work and enclosed-space permits.

• Repair quays along the Perama waterfront: deck, hatch coaming, side shell and tank gauging alongside the afloat repair list.
• Floating docks in the repair zone: bottom shell, bilge keel, sea chest and rudder readings once the hull is blasted and before painting.
• Smaller yards and slipways: shell and tank gauging on tugs, workboats, coasters and harbour craft hauled out for survey.
• Outer berths and moorings off the zone: lay-by gauging for ships waiting for a floating dock or a steel slot.
• Anchorage in the bay off Piraeus: launch-served pre-docking or condition gauging for a ship waiting for a slot.
• Short passage to Elefsina or Salamina yards: the same crew can follow a ship that is moved there for a longer docking.

Greek flag, port state control and the Perama repair calendar

Greek ports are inspected under the Paris MoU regime by the Hellenic Coast Guard, which also handles flag state matters for the large Greek-flag fleet. Port state control inspectors pay particular attention to ships with visible structural wastage, so owners often gauge a ship in the repair zone before a detention can turn a problem into a commercial one. The Coast Guard's ship inspection section and the classification societies work alongside the yards, and a thickness report taken at Perama is routinely passed to the attending class surveyor.

EU measures shape repair decisions too. Ships calling at European ports and sold for scrapping later will need a current Inventory of Hazardous Materials under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, and owners often update it during a repair stay when the hull is open. Carbon accounting under the EU ETS, in force for shipping since 2024, and FuelEU Maritime, which began in 2025, push owners of older vessels to ask whether hull steel justifies further investment. A gauged hull gives a defensible basis for that question, whether the answer is repair, sale or recycling.

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

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

Athens International Airport lies on the other side of the city, and the drive to Perama runs through the Piraeus road network, so the team plans a buffer for traffic and for gate formalities at the yard. Technicians from India need a Schengen visa for Greece, which is arranged for each job once the ship's schedule firms up. Gate passes and permits for the repair zone are applied for through the ship's agent or the yard, using the team's passport and certificate details sent in advance.

• 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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