Tarragona Ultrasonic Thickness Surveys: Liquid Bulk and Dry Bulk Ships

Inspection services for ships at Tarragona

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

Where UTM takes place in Tarragona

Most gauging is done alongside at the liquid bulk berths, where chemical, product and gas tankers lie for discharge or loading. The terminal's safety rules decide who may board, what equipment can be used and which spaces may be opened, and the ship's enclosed-space entry system covers the technicians. Ballast tanks, voids, cofferdams, the shell above the waterline and deck piping are normal subjects during cargo work; cargo tanks need cleaning and gas-freeing first, so they are handled when the ship has finished its programme.

The dry bulk quays are less restricted. Ships there discharge grain or fertiliser and then wait for the next cargo, which opens holds for readings of frames, hopper plating, bulkheads and hatch coamings. The port does not have a drydock for ocean-going merchant ships, so ships needing renewal normally dock at Barcelona, Valencia or a yard further afield; Tarragona is the right place to measure wastage and plan the work. Repair firms in the port can handle afloat work such as piping renewal, and gauging can be matched with their schedules. Anchorage jobs are possible for short checks, subject to launch availability and sea state.

• Chemical and oil product berths — ballast tank, void, cofferdam and deck piping readings under terminal permit rules
• LPG and gas berths — hull, ballast tank and deck readings, without cargo containment, within terminal procedures
• Dry bulk wharves for grain and fertiliser — hold frame, hopper, coaming and deck gauging between cargoes
• General cargo and ro-ro berths — hull and tween deck readings on coasters and short-sea ships
• Tarragona anchorage — short sampling jobs on tankers and bulkers waiting for a berth, weather permitting
• Docking yards at Barcelona and Valencia — gauging begun here continues beside the docking survey

Port state control, ESP and chemical trade rules

Port state control at Tarragona operates under the Paris MoU and is carried out by the Capitanía Marítima, part of Spain's Dirección General de la Marina Mercante. Chemical and gas tankers are under particular attention, and inspectors often look at the condition of ballast tanks, deck structure and piping when a ship has been trading for years without a docking. For ships under the Enhanced Survey Programme, thickness records are the thread connecting one renewal survey to the next, and they show where substantial corrosion is developing.

Industry and regulation meet in this port. Chemical charterers and terminal operators often ask for evidence of condition before fixing a ship, and some vetting systems look closely at structural records. Under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, ships calling at EU ports need an Inventory of Hazardous Materials, and EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime influence voyage planning. Owners of stainless-steel chemical tankers face different concerns from those of coated carbon steel ships, and we gauge both with attention to the coating and the corrosion pattern, but we do not inspect the coatings themselves.

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

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

Reus Airport lies close to Tarragona and has seasonal European links, but technicians travelling from India more often reach Barcelona-El Prat through a European or Gulf hub and continue to the port by road or rail. The ship's agent arranges terminal passes and a launch for anchorage work. Schengen visas are required, so please send the ship's expected dates early; once visas are issued we confirm mobilisation, since tanker schedules can change with cargo programmes.

• 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