Thickness Measurement in Trieste for Tankers, Ro-Ro and Container Ships

Inspection services for ships at Trieste

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

Where thickness gauging happens in the Trieste port system

In Trieste most gauging is done afloat during cargo operations rather than in a dock, and that shapes how jobs are planned. The scope is fixed in advance as a list of spaces, entry permits are agreed with the master and the terminal, and the team works through the list in the order the ship's operations allow. Tanker gauging at SIOT is governed by the terminal's own safety rules, which are strict about electronic equipment, ignition sources and access to the jetty, so the agent arranges clearance and inductions well before the ship arrives.

Full CAP-level gauging of cargo tanks needs the ship gas-freed, so owners plan it for a yard stay. The ship-repair yards of the northern Adriatic, including Viktor Lenac near Rijeka, are within easy reach, and the same team can follow the tanker to the yard once it leaves the terminal. Monfalcone adds bulk carriers and general cargo ships at its commercial quays, and ships waiting for a berth lie at anchor in the Gulf of Trieste, where condition gauging can be done from a launch booked by the agent.

• SIOT marine terminal, Bay of Muggia — gauging of main deck, deck piping, forecastle spaces and ballast tanks declared safe for entry on crude tankers during discharge
• Ro-ro berths of the port of Trieste — vehicle deck, internal ramp, stern ramp and ballast tank gauging on trailer ships, split across consecutive scheduled calls
• Trieste Marine Terminal, Molo VII — limited-scope gauging of hatch covers, cross-deck structure and scrubber overboard piping on container ships during cargo work
• Stazione Marittima — cruise ships alongside near the city centre, where a turnaround allows readings on scrubber lines and selected void spaces
• Monfalcone commercial port — gauging on bulk carriers and general cargo ships at the quays, including hold frames and hatch coamings once the holds are empty
• Anchorage in the Gulf of Trieste — ships waiting for SIOT or a container berth, reached by a launch the agent books, for sale or off-hire gauging

Port state control, emissions rules and the Trieste trades

Port state control in Trieste follows the Paris MoU, whose ship risk profile decides how often a tanker or ro-ro ship is boarded. The Mediterranean SOx ECA, in force since 1 May 2025, caps fuel sulphur at 0.10% across the Adriatic unless a scrubber delivers equivalent emissions. Container ships and ro-ro ships fitted with scrubbers now run them to ECA limits for the whole Adriatic passage, and wash-water and overboard piping has become a recurring gauging request, especially where shell penetrations showed pitting at an earlier inspection.

Tanker managers calling at SIOT also work under oil-major vetting. SIRE inspections and charterers' acceptance criteria weigh the ship's structural condition records, and for older tankers a current CAP rating is often expected before the ship is accepted. EU ETS, in force for shipping since 2024, and FuelEU Maritime, applying since 2025, add commercial pressure on older tonnage in the Turkish ro-ro trades as well: an owner deciding whether to keep, sell or recycle a ship needs gauging records that a buyer or a yard can rely on. Trieste is also the headquarters city of Fincantieri, and with the Monfalcone cruise yard nearby the region has deep shipbuilding expertise to draw on when gauging results lead to repair planning.

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

A gauging job at Trieste 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.

Trieste Airport, at Ronchi dei Legionari near Monfalcone, has European connections, and Venice Marco Polo and Ljubljana airports are within road distance for longer-haul arrivals. The ship's agent requests ISPS access for the ro-ro, container and cruise berths and arranges SIOT terminal clearance, which comes with its own safety induction and equipment rules. Our technicians are Indian nationals travelling on Schengen visas. Tanker and ro-ro calls are often confirmed only days ahead, so for repeat work on a scheduled rotation we plan visas around the rotation rather than around a single call.

• 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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