Marine cleaning problems repeat in patterns — a cargo pair that fights the coating, a window too short for the holds, a defect found too late to fix before sailing. These are the patterns we plan around.
Entries marked “Scope pattern” describe how we approach a job of that shape, not one specific contract. Real, permission-cleared case studies replace them as they become available.
Hold cleaning — riding crewSupramax bulk carrierScope pattern
Typical problem
Five holds carrying petcoke residue, with a grain-clean requirement at the next load port and only a six-day ballast passage available.
How we approach it
An eight-person riding crew joined at the discharge port and worked the holds in sequence across the passage, sweeping and washing forward-to-aft so completed holds had maximum drying time.
What the approach is built to achieve
All five holds ready for the load port surveyor, with no commercial time lost to cleaning.
Tank cleaning — CPP grade changeMR product tankerScope pattern
Typical problem
Grade change from gasoil into jet fuel, with a wall wash requirement and a coating system approaching the end of its service life.
How we approach it
Cycle programme planned against the cargo pair, machine washing followed by manual finishing of bellmouths, coils and structural shadows, then drying and testing before presentation.
What the approach is built to achieve
Tanks presented to the inspector with any coating limitation identified and communicated in advance, not discovered at test.
Extended period at anchorage in warm water had produced heavy fouling on the flat bottom and calcareous growth on the propeller.
How we approach it
Brush cart cleaning of the full underwater hull with hand work on niche areas, followed by staged propeller polishing to a Class A mirror finish. Carried out at anchorage over two working days.
What the approach is built to achieve
Hull and propeller returned to a smooth condition without off-hire, with before-and-after video for the technical file.
Offshore — charter turnaroundPlatform supply vesselScope pattern
Typical problem
Off-charter to on-charter window of under three days, covering mud and brine tanks, cargo deck degreasing and accommodation presentation.
How we approach it
Deck, tank and accommodation scopes run in parallel by a single team, with line and pump flushing included so cross-contamination did not reappear from the system.
What the approach is built to achieve
Vessel presented for on-hire inspection inside the window, with observations rectified on the spot.
Thickness gauging in ballast tanks identified wasted plating and cracked brackets requiring rectification ahead of a class survey.
How we approach it
NDT technicians quantified the wastage, then riding fabricators cropped and renewed the affected plating to the repair procedure agreed with class, under hot-work permit.
What the approach is built to achieve
Repairs NDT tested and presented to the attending surveyor within the same mobilisation, without a second contractor call-out.
Heavy compacted sludge around bellmouths and heating coils requiring removal before a gas-free-for-hot-work certificate could be pursued.
How we approach it
Rotating teams worked under full enclosed-space entry regime with continuous monitoring and manned rescue standby, with residues quantified and landed to an approved facility.
What the approach is built to achieve
Tanks cleared and washed down, with independent certification arranged separately as the next step.
Most of our work is multi-scope. Cleaning, inspection and repair delivered together removes the handover delays that dominate a timeline when trades are split across contractors.
