UTM and Hull Gauging for Ships at Saint-Malo

Inspection services for ships at Saint-Malo

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

Where gauging can be done at Saint-Malo

Ferry berths at the terminal give the standard ferry windows: vehicle decks gauged when they are clear, ramp and door structure while the ship is alongside, and tanks and machinery spaces within the permit system. A seasonal ferry laid by in the off-season is a better target, because the whole ship is quiet and the larger scope of deck, tank and piping gauging can be done in a block. Scheduling follows the tide, which affects when the ship is accessible by gangway and when stores or staff can be transferred.

On the commercial quays the typical subject is a short-sea cargo ship in the basin behind the locks. Holds, coamings and hatch covers can be gauged when empty, and ballast tanks are worked in parallel. Fishing vessels lie in their own basin, and hull plating, tanks and sea-water piping are measured around their landings and the tide. Ships at anchor off the harbour are reached by launch arranged by the agent, with swell and tidal streams limiting the time on board. Because the approach is tricky and the tide strong, the gauging team is briefed by the agent before every launch.

• Ferry terminal berths — vehicle deck, ramp, door and ballast tank gauging on ro-pax and fast ferries between sailings.
• Seasonal ferry lay-by — larger deck, tank and piping scopes on ships laid by in the off-season.
• Commercial quays behind the locks — hold, coaming, hatch cover and ballast tank gauging on short-sea cargo ships.
• Fishing basin berths — hull plating, tank and sea-water piping readings on trawlers and coastal fishing vessels.
• Outer harbour and roads anchorage — launch-served readings on ships waiting for the tide or a berth.
• Repair berths for small craft — wall-thickness checks on piping and deck structure during repair afloat.

Regulation and the Channel Islands link

Port state control in France follows the Paris MoU, and the Centres de sécurité des navires of the French maritime administration carry out the inspections. Ferries between France, England and the Channel Islands cross several jurisdictions in a single day, and their owners need records that stand up in any of them. Thickness readings on decks, ramps and the lower hull give the superintendent a dated measurement that supports class and flag discussions, and shows where renewal is due at the next docking.

Passenger ships follow the class society's hull survey rules rather than the Enhanced Survey Programme, with the extent of gauging growing at each special survey. Small bulk carriers and tankers calling at the commercial quays fall under ESP and the IACS hull survey requirements for their type. The EU Ship Recycling Regulation requires an Inventory of Hazardous Materials on ships calling at EU ports, and EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime shape the economics of every voyage. For owners of ageing short-sea cargo ships the gauging is often part of a plan to decide whether to renew steel or retire the ship.

Ships trading to Saint-Malo 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 Saint-Malo

A gauging job at Saint-Malo 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.

Technicians usually fly to Paris and take the high-speed train to Rennes, then continue by rail or road to Saint-Malo, while the airport at Dinard, close to the port, has seasonal connections but is rarely the practical route from India. The ship's agent arranges access to the terminal or the commercial quay and books launches for ships at anchor. France is a Schengen state, so every technician needs a Schengen visa, applied for when the call is confirmed, with an invitation letter from the owner naming the ship. Travel plans are adjusted to the tide times the agent supplies.

• 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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