Hospital clean, grain clean, normal clean, shovel clean, load on top: hold cleanliness standards explained

The five standards at a glance

Cargo examples vary between sources and between charterers. Treat the right-hand column as a guide, and always go with the charterer's instructions and the IMSBC Code entry for the cargo.

What is hospital clean?

Hospital clean (sometimes called "stringent clean") is the top of the scale. Britannia P&I defines it as completely clean, dry and free of all loose scale, with fully intact paintwork on every surface in the hold. Skuld adds that it means 100% intact coating, including the tank top, ladder rungs and the undersides of the hatch covers.

That last part is what makes it rare. You can wash a hold to hospital standard in a few days. You can't make twenty-year-old coating intact in a few days. In practice, hospital clean is met by ships that trade exclusively in cargoes that demand it, and you'll rarely see it asked for in the tramp market.

What is grain clean?

Grain clean is the standard you'll meet most often, and it's the sensible default if the next cargo isn't fixed when discharge finishes. Skuld's commonly quoted definition is that holds must be clean, swept and washed down with fresh water, free from insects, odour, residue of previous cargo, lashing material, loose rust scale and paint flakes, and dried and well ventilated, ready for the shipper's and surveyor's inspection.

A few details catch people out:

• Hard rust is usually fine; loose rust isn't. Skuld's rule of thumb: loose scale breaks away when you strike it with a fist or slide a knife or scraper under its edge. Tight oxidation rust on bare steel won't. Surveyors differ on how much of either they'll accept.
• Some inspectors put a number on it. The USDA Standards of Fitness, quoted in The Swedish Club's guide, allow a single area of loose paint or scale up to 10 sq ft (about 2.3 m²), or several patches totalling no more than 100 sq ft (about 9.3 m²). Australian and Canadian inspections are known for being stricter.
• Odour counts. A hold can be visually spotless and still fail because it smells of the last cargo.
• Dry means dry. Damp bilge wells and wet patches under the hopper are a fail.

Grain clean vs hospital clean: the real difference

People often treat hospital clean as "grain clean, but more so." The real difference is the coating. Grain clean accepts sound, hard-adhering rust and some bare steel, as long as nothing will come loose into the cargo. Hospital clean wants intact paint everywhere. That makes grain clean a cleaning job and hospital clean partly a maintenance job, because you can't clean your way to intact coating.

What is normal clean?

Normal clean is a working-level standard for cargoes that are similar or compatible with the last one. The Swedish Club describes it as residues removed, holds double swept, salt-water washed, fresh-water rinsed and dried. It's typical between coal, bauxite, salt and iron ore.

The trap with normal clean is assuming it's good enough for anything. It isn't. Normal clean after coal is fine for more coal. It's nowhere near enough for grain.

What is shovel clean (and sweep clean)?

Shovel clean means the residue that a mechanical shovel, dozer bucket or hand shovel can easily reach has been removed and the hold roughly swept. There's no washing. Britannia points out that several tonnes of the previous cargo may still be in each hold at this point.

Sweep clean (or "swept clean") sits just above it: the stevedores sweep the holds before discharge completes so that what's left is a light residue, not a layer. If the charterparty asks for swept clean on redelivery, the time to arrange it is before the stevedores leave.

What is load on top?

Load on top means loading new cargo directly on top of what's left of the last one. It only makes sense for the same cargo, usually the same grade on a long-term contract, such as a coal shuttle.

It saves time, but it has a hidden cost. Both Britannia and The Swedish Club warn that residue prevents a proper inspection of the hold structure, and that holds kept on load-on-top for several voyages take much longer to clean when the trade finally changes. Clearing residue periodically, or at least pushing it aside to look at the steel, is cheap insurance.

Who decides the required cleanliness standard?

The charterer, usually. The standard should be set out in the charterparty or voyage instructions, and it's driven by the next cargo, the shipper's or receiver's requirements and local rules at the load port. The IMSBC Code also sets hold cleanliness requirements for cargoes listed in it. For most entries that means "clean and dry as relevant to the hazards of the cargo", but some, such as sulphur, are far more specific.

Can a charterer demand grain clean? If the charterparty says so, yes, and it's very common. Where it gets contentious is when the wording is vague ("clean, swept, dry, suitable for the intended cargo") and the load-port surveyor's idea of suitable is stricter than the Master's. If the wording is unclear, ask before the ship sails, not after it fails.

How do surveyors inspect a cargo hold?

A surveyor will usually check four things: residue of the previous cargo, loose rust and paint, moisture, and odour or infestation. They'll look closely at the places that are hard to clean (frame brackets, ladder rungs, hopper tops, hatch cover undersides, bilge wells) and they'll use a torch, not daylight. Some will take a scraper to rust. Some will rub a white cloth along a frame. Some will test for chlorides. For grain to certain countries, the inspection is carried out by or on behalf of government authorities, and their word is final.

What happens if the hold fails inspection?

Usually the ship has to re-clean, then call the surveyor back. The cost isn't the cleaning itself. It's the time: the vessel may be placed off hire or lose laytime, may lose its berth slot and wait at anchor, and in a tight market may lose the fixture. Disputes about who pays for that delay are among the most common hold-cleaning claims P&I clubs see.

The way to avoid it is dull but effective. Know the standard before discharge finishes. Plan the cleaning backwards from the inspection date. Pre-inspect every hold yourself, as strictly as the surveyor would.