Thickness Measurement for Ships at the Port of Porto Torres

Inspection services for ships at Porto Torres

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

Where gauging can take place at Porto Torres

Porto Torres is not a major ship repair centre, and larger dockings usually take place at yards elsewhere in Italy, in Malta or beyond. The port is best understood as a place to gauge afloat. At the ferry quays, vehicle decks, ramps, void spaces and ballast tanks can be measured between sailings. At the industrial berths, chemical tankers and bulk carriers can be gauged when the terminal permits, and at the anchorage a ship waiting for its turn can be reached by launch in settled weather. Ship's staff usually have the clearest picture of which tanks are empty, so the superintendent's tank status list is the starting document for every plan.

For ships whose readings point to steel renewal, the practical route is a docking at a larger yard, with Cagliari and mainland ports as the usual options. Gauging in Porto Torres then supplies an early record that the owner, the surveyor and the yard can all work from. For ships in lay-up or between charters, a longer programme is realistic because the crew is not under time pressure and spaces can be cleaned and ventilated in advance.

• Ferry and ro-ro quays: vehicle decks, ramps, void spaces and ballast tanks between sailings
• Industrial port berths: cargo and ballast tanks of chemical tankers and holds of bulk carriers, subject to terminal permits
• Gulf of Asinara anchorage: ships waiting for a berth, reached by launch when the weather allows
• Lay-by positions for ships idle between charters, suited to a longer programme
• Cagliari and mainland yards: larger docking facilities used after gauging results are reviewed

Port state control and regulation at Porto Torres

Port state control at Porto Torres is carried out by the Italian Coast Guard (Guardia Costiera), working through the harbour master (Capitaneria di Porto), under the Paris MoU system. Chemical tankers and ageing bulk carriers can be targeted for inspection, and corrosion in tanks and holds is a typical area of concern. Ferries on regular services also fall under the EU regime for passenger ships, so structural defects on a ro-pax ship tend to be dealt with quickly.

Beyond inspections, the EU Ship Recycling Regulation requires ships calling at EU ports to carry an Inventory of Hazardous Materials, which a docking is the natural moment to update. EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime add a carbon dimension to the economics of keeping older ro-pax ships and cargo vessels in service. Chemical tankers and bulk carriers surveyed under the Enhanced Survey Programme need thickness reports in the formats the societies expect, and early gauging in Sardinia keeps the docking schedule on track. Because the port serves both passengers and heavy industry, ships here are watched by two different groups of inspectors, and owners who hold current thickness records are better placed to answer questions from either.

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

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

Alghero airport is the closest to Porto Torres, with Olbia and Cagliari as alternatives that need a longer road transfer. The crew travels from India on Schengen visas, so dates are confirmed once visa lead time is known. Ferry berths and industrial quays are reached through the ship's agent, who arranges port passes and terminal inductions, and we provide personnel details and equipment lists as soon as the job is confirmed.

• 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.

Related