Thickness Measurement for Ferries and Ships in Split

Inspection services for ships at Split

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

Where thickness gauging happens around Split

Off-season ferry work is the core of thickness gauging in Split. Ferries come off service and go to a dock or a repair quay for their winter refit, and that is when vehicle decks, ramps, ballast and void spaces, bottom shell and sea chests can be gauged in full. Where a ferry docks elsewhere on the coast, pre-docking gauging at its Split berth on a quiet day gives the yard and the surveyor a head start before it sails for the dock. Catamarans taken out of the water for hull work give direct access to aluminium plating.

During the season, work at the city harbour is limited to short windows between sailings and to lay-overs where a ferry stays in Split overnight. Cruise ships berthing at the city port give call-day access, mainly to technical spaces and scrubber piping. In Kaštela Bay, bulk, container and general cargo ships at the North Harbour are gauged alongside during or after cargo work, and ships waiting to berth anchor in the bay. The ship's agent or the operator arranges ISPS passes for each berth and books launches where needed.

• City harbour ferry berths — island ferries and ro-pax ships on lay-overs or in off-season lay-up, gauged on vehicle decks, ramps and ballast tanks
• Catamaran berths in the city harbour — aluminium hull, frame and deck gauging on high-speed catamarans during winter lay-up and maintenance
• Ancona ro-pax berths — vehicle deck, stern door and ballast tank gauging on cross-Adriatic ferries in the hours between sailings
• Cruise berths and the anchorage off the old town — a cruise call day leaves time for scrubber discharge line readings and a few technical spaces
• North Harbour, Kaštela Bay — dry bulk and general cargo ships at Vranjic and Solin, with holds, hatch covers and ballast tanks gauged around cargo work
• Kaštela Bay anchorage — launch access to ships awaiting a North Harbour berth, used for pre-purchase and general condition gauging

Class, port state control and emissions context in Split

Foreign ships in Split are inspected under the Paris MoU, and passenger ships in scheduled service also fall under the EU inspection regime for ro-pax ships and high-speed craft. A ferry classed with the Croatian Register of Shipping, like any other classed ship, needs its survey thickness measurements taken by a firm holding UR Z17 approval from its own class society, so superintendents settle that point at the scoping stage. Gauging for owners' own planning, such as pre-docking estimates or condition checks before a sale, is not tied to that requirement.

Island ferries, ro-pax ships and cruise ships in Dalmatian waters have operated inside the Mediterranean SOx ECA since 1 May 2025, using 0.10% sulphur fuel or exhaust gas cleaning that meets the equivalent limit. Larger ro-pax ships and cruise ships fitted with scrubbers run them throughout Croatian waters, which puts their wash-water and overboard piping on the inspection list. Both EU ETS (shipping included from 2024) and FuelEU Maritime (from 2025) apply only above a ship-size threshold, which brings in the larger ro-pax and cruise ships, while the smaller island ferries face their own questions of fleet age and renewal planning, where steel condition often decides how long a ferry stays in service.

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

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

Split Airport, at Kaštela between the city and Trogir, has European connections, many of them seasonal, and Zagreb offers year-round long-haul links with a motorway to the coast. The ship's agent or the operator arranges ISPS passes for the city harbour and the North Harbour, and launches for ships at anchor. Because Croatia is part of Schengen, the team from India travels on Schengen visas. Winter refit programmes are planned months ahead, which leaves ample time for visas; summer work needs the sailing schedule and access window confirmed early.

• 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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