Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement for Ro-Ro, Vehicle and Bulk Ships in Uusikaupunki

Inspection services for ships at Uusikaupunki

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

Where gauging happens in and around Uusikaupunki

At Hepokari the work is done alongside, around the cargo plan. On ro-ro ships and car carriers, decks are measured as they empty, starting with the lowest deck if the discharge sequence allows, and stern ramps and their hinges are gauged and crack-tested while the ramp is down and clear of traffic. Multipurpose ships at the conventional berths give access to holds and hatch covers between cargo operations. Tank work on any ship depends on the crew ventilating and certifying spaces before the team arrives, so the list of tanks to be opened is agreed a day or two ahead with the chief officer.

The Yara harbour is an industrial berth under the plant's safety regime, and access for an inspection team is arranged by the agent with the plant as well as with the ship. Bulk carriers there can have holds, frames and tank tops measured once they are empty, and chemical tankers can have deck, piping and safe voids gauged within their permit system. For dockings, owners use the shipyard at Rauma or Turku Repair Yard at Naantali, both within easy reach, or yards further across the Baltic; gauging done at Uusikaupunki beforehand goes with the ship and saves days once it is in the dock.

• Hepokari ro-ro berths — vehicle decks, stern ramps and hoistable-deck supports on ro-ro ships and car carriers
• Hepokari conventional quays — holds, tween decks and hatch covers on multipurpose ships carrying forest and project cargo
• Yara fertiliser harbour — hold, frame and tank-top gauging on bulk carriers, plus deck and piping work on chemical tankers
• Anchorage off Uusikaupunki — short launch-borne jobs on ships waiting for a berth
• Docking yards at Rauma and Naantali — where a steel estimate from Uusikaupunki is checked with the ship dry

Port state control and cargo-driven corrosion at Uusikaupunki

Ships calling at Uusikaupunki come under Paris MoU port state control, which Traficom, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, carries out for Finland. On ro-ro ships, inspectors look at doors, ramps and watertight integrity as well as structure, so wastage and cracks around the stern ramp and its hinges are worth finding before an inspector does. The EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime both apply to the intra-EU voyages that make up most of this port's traffic, and under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation ships of 500 gross tonnage and upwards calling here, whatever their flag, must carry an up-to-date Inventory of Hazardous Materials, often revised when steel is renewed or equipment replaced.

Fertiliser trades bring their own corrosion pattern. Many fertiliser materials attract moisture, and residues left in holds form corrosive solutions on tank tops, in hopper corners and along frame brackets, while liquid feedstocks for fertiliser production move in tankers with their own survey regimes. Bulk carriers in these trades fall under the Enhanced Survey Programme like any other bulk carrier, but the cargo means wastage can gather in the lower holds earlier than the survey cycle assumes. For ice-classed ro-ro ships, the Finnish-Swedish Ice Class Rules tie the ship's winter access to its ice-belt scantlings, and readings there support the decision to keep a ship on a year-round service.

Ships trading to Uusikaupunki 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 Uusikaupunki

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

The team normally lands at Helsinki-Vantaa and drives west, or uses Turku Airport where connections suit, since Uusikaupunki is a short road journey north-west of Turku. The ship's agent arranges ISPS access at Hepokari, and at the Yara harbour also clears the team with the plant's own safety organisation; a launch is booked through the agent for anchorage work. Finland requires a Schengen visa for our India-based technicians, so dates are confirmed as soon as the call or loading slot is fixed, with time allowed for the consulate.

• 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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