Hull Inspection in Valencia: Ship Thickness Gauging at Valenciaport and Sagunto

Inspection services for ships at Valencia

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

Where UTM in Valencia and Sagunto takes place

Most gauging in the Valencia port area happens at the berth. Container terminals allow work in spaces away from cargo operations, provided the ship's crew and the terminal's safety rules are satisfied, while the ferry and ro-ro berths in the inner harbour give longer, more predictable stays. Ship-repair firms in the port area carry out afloat repairs and maintenance, and gauging is often requested alongside them so that steel replacement and pipe renewal can be planned within the same stop rather than deferred to the next one.

Gas carriers at Sagunto need particular planning: terminal safety rules govern who can board and what equipment can be used, and cargo containment systems are outside the scope of ultrasonic thickness gauging, so typical requests are hull, ballast tank, deck and piping readings. For larger renewal scopes that need a drydock, owners of ships trading on the Spanish Mediterranean coast often combine data gathered in Valencia with a later docking elsewhere, and the gauging continues at the yard with the people who took the first readings. Ships waiting at the Valencia anchorage can be reached by launch for short, targeted jobs when the agent has arranged access.

• MSC Terminal Valencia, CSP Iberian Valencia Terminal and APM Terminals Valencia — wash-water line, double-bottom tank and cofferdam gauging on container ships while cargo work continues
• Ferry and ro-ro berths in the inner harbour — car-deck, ramp, ballast tank and piping gauging on Balearic ro-pax during lay-overs and winter maintenance
• Vehicle terminal berths — gauging of ramps, car-deck structure and ballast tanks on car carriers loading Spanish-built vehicles for export
• Sagunto LNG regasification terminal and bulk quays — hull, deck, ballast and piping readings on gas carriers and bulk carriers, within terminal permit rules
• Valencia anchorage — targeted gauging on ships waiting for a berth, scheduled around launch access and the agent's port clearance
• Cruise terminals — sea-water piping and void gauging on cruise ships during turnaround days, planned with the ship's technical department

ECA rules, port state control and the Valencia owner base

Valencia has been inside the Mediterranean SOx ECA since it took effect on 1 May 2025, and EU rules already required low-sulphur fuel at berth before then. Scrubber-equipped ships on this coast must now meet the stricter ECA equivalent at sea as well as in port, so wash-water piping, overboard valves and the shell around discharges have become a regular inspection subject for container ships and ferries alike. Port state control in Valencia is carried out by Spain's maritime administration under the Paris MoU, and corrosion findings on piping or structure can quickly become deficiencies that need measured evidence before the ship sails.

Valencia is also a home base for Spanish shipping and maritime services, with towage and logistics groups headquartered in the city, so some technical decisions are made close to the port even though our technicians travel in. EU ETS has covered emissions from ships calling at EU ports since 2024, and FuelEU Maritime since 2025, and ferry and short-sea operators on this coast are investing in energy-efficiency retrofits and alternative fuels as a result. Retrofit work often opens up structure that is rarely accessible, and gauging the surrounding plating and frames at that point avoids discovering wastage after the yard has finished and the ship is back in service.

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

A gauging job at Valencia 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.

Valencia Airport is reached from India with a connection through a European or Gulf hub; the alternative is Madrid and the high-speed train to the coast. Port access is arranged by the ship's agent: ISPS passes for the container, ferry and Sagunto terminals, crew-list entries where needed, and a launch for any anchorage job. Technicians need Schengen visas, so we ask for the vessel's expected dates as early as possible and confirm the mobilisation once visas are issued; for ferry overhauls planned months ahead, this is rarely a constraint.

• 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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