Souda Bay, Crete: Thickness Measurement for Ships in a Deep Natural Harbour

Inspection services for ships at Souda

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

Where gauging can be carried out at Souda

In the civil port, gauging is done alongside at the ferry and cargo quays and at the fuel berth, with every pass and permit arranged by the ship's agent. A ro-pax ferry alongside offers vehicle decks, ramps and accessible plating, while a cargo ship discharging gives access to open holds and hatch covers. Product tankers at the fuel berth are limited to deck, deck piping and ballast spaces within the terminal's rules, and work may pause during cargo transfer.

Souda does not have a large repair yard or drydock. Hull work on ships that call here is normally carried out in the Athens repair zones, in the Aegean or in yards elsewhere in the Mediterranean. Gauging at Souda therefore serves as preparation: readings taken at anchor or alongside give the technical manager a measured basis for a steel estimate, and they identify areas that need early attention. For ships laid up in the bay between charters, a fuller programme including ballast tanks and voids can be planned over several days.

• Civil passenger and ferry quays — vehicle deck, ramp and ballast tank readings on ro-pax ships during layovers
• Cargo quays — hatch cover, coaming, hold and deck gauging on general cargo ships and coasters during discharge
• Fuel berth — deck, deck piping and ballast space gauging on product tankers within permit rules
• Civil anchorage positions in the bay — pre-docking and condition gauging on ships waiting for orders, reached by launch
• Lay-up positions in the bay — extended gauging of idle ships, planned with the owner's repair list

Port state control and the setting of the bay

Greek port state control under the Paris MoU is carried out by the Hellenic Coast Guard, and the same authority supervises passenger ship safety on the island routes. Domestic ferries face regular certificate inspections, so owners track structural condition closely, and wastage on vehicle decks and ballast tanks is a recurring theme. The Mediterranean sulphur emission control area, in force since 1 May 2025, applies around Crete. EU ETS (since 2024) and FuelEU Maritime (since 2025) cover voyages to and from Souda.

The military presence affects planning rather than the technical work. Photography of the bay and of restricted areas is controlled, so our reports show only the vessel under inspection. The agent should confirm which berths and anchorage positions are open to civil work and whether any exercise or restriction is in force on the dates. For ships calling at EU ports, an Inventory of Hazardous Materials is required on board, and a purchase or change of manager can add a condition check to the usual survey cycle.

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

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

The team flies in to Chania's Ioannis Daskalogiannis Airport, usually connecting through Athens, and reaches the port by road along the bay. Port passes, any launch boarding and permits for the fuel berth are arranged by the ship's agent, with crew lists and technician certificates sent in advance; the agent also confirms which areas are open to civil work. Because Greece applies the Schengen rules, every technician travels on a Schengen visa obtained in India. We recommend sending us the ship's expected dates as early as they are known, so visa applications can begin before the call is fixed.

• 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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