Ultrasonic Thickness Gauging for Ships Calling at Zadar

Inspection services for ships at Zadar

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

Where gauging can happen at Zadar

At Gaženica, the large passenger and cargo berths give the best access in Zadar. A ro-pax ship waiting between sailings, or a cargo ship alongside after discharge, can have decks, ramps, ballast tanks and holds measured while the crew and the ship's engineers prepare spaces for entry. The terminal operator and the ship's agent control access, and gauging has to fit around loading, bunkering and the ship's own safety routines. Where a ship stays overnight, a more thorough programme becomes realistic.

The old harbour is better suited to smaller ferries and lay-overs, where the vessel is idle for a few hours or longer in winter. Full docking survey work usually requires a yard, and Zadar is not set up as a repair port, so owners point their ferries to a yard further along the coast or across the Adriatic. In those cases, pre-docking gauging in Zadar gives the yard a realistic steel estimate before the ship sails, and a return visit after the yard period can confirm that renewed plating and repaired areas meet the agreed values.

• Gaženica passenger berths — vehicle decks, ramps, stern doors and ballast tanks on ro-pax and large ferries between sailings
• Gaženica cargo quays — holds, hatch covers and tank tops on general cargo and timber ships after discharge
• Old harbour ferry quays — island ferries on overnight stops or winter lay-up, with decks, voids and ballast tanks gauged
• Cruise berths at Gaženica — scrubber piping and technical spaces during a call day
• Zadar roads anchorage — launch access for pre-purchase and pre-docking condition gauging on waiting ships
• Pre- and post-yard visits — gauging before a ferry leaves for its docking and again once repaired areas are complete

Regulation, ferry safety and the Dalmatian trade

Foreign-flag ships in Zadar are subject to port state control under the Paris MoU, with inspections carried out by Croatian officers under the harbour master's authority for the Zadar area. Domestic ferries and ro-pax ships also fall under the EU rules for passenger ships on scheduled routes, with regular surveys of structure, watertight integrity and vehicle decks. Corrosion at ramp hinges, drain lines and ballast tank boundaries is a frequent finding on older ferries, so owners use gauging to see how much margin remains before the next survey.

The EU Ship Recycling Regulation requires an Inventory of Hazardous Materials for larger ships calling at EU ports, and ships above the size thresholds come under EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime. For island ferry fleets, many of them decades old, steel condition is the main factor in deciding whether to renew plating, refit, or replace. Zadar's economy depends on tourism and on trade with the islands, so cargo ships calling here tend to carry building materials, timber and general goods rather than heavy bulk. Local knowledge of the ferry rotas helps us plan, because a ferry that sits idle for three hours at midday is a different opportunity from one that leaves every ninety minutes.

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

A gauging job at Zadar 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.

Zadar Airport has seasonal European services, and Zagreb offers year-round connections with a motorway running down to the coast; Split is also reachable by road. The ship's agent or the ferry operator arranges terminal access at Gaženica and the old harbour, and books launches for ships at anchor. The team travels from India on Schengen visas, so the visa schedule sets the earliest start date. Because ferries run tight rotas, the exact working window should be confirmed with the operator as soon as it is fixed.

• 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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