Why bulk carrier holds fail inspection, and the 12 failures surveyors find most

What do cargo surveyors look for?

Before the list, it helps to know how the surveyor thinks. They're answering one question: will anything in this hold damage, contaminate or reduce the value of the cargo? That breaks down into four checks:

• Previous cargo residue anywhere it could fall or transfer into the next cargo
• Loose rust, scale and paint that could come off during loading or the voyage
• Moisture: water, damp, condensation and the conditions that cause them
• Odour and infestation: smells, insects, rodents

They'll use a powerful torch, not daylight. Some will carry a scraper, some a white cloth, some a chloride test kit. And they'll go straight to the places that are hardest to clean, because that's where problems hide.

The 12 most common reasons holds fail

1. Residue on frames and brackets

The top of a frame bracket is a perfect little shelf, and from the tank top you can't see onto it. Dust settles there during discharge and stays through a wash aimed from below. This is the single most common finding.

2. Residue on hopper tank tops

The sloping plate of the upper hopper collects a layer of fine cargo. It looks clean from below because you're looking at its underside.

3. Dirty hatch cover undersides

Hatch girders and the underside of the covers hold dust and loose paint. When the covers open for loading, it drops straight into the cargo. Surveyors know this and look up.

4. Ladders, platforms and pipe guards

Every rung, every step, every guard over a sounding pipe is a horizontal surface. Hundreds of them per hold.

5. Bilge wells

Residue, standing water, smell and sometimes insects, all in one place. Bilge wells are cleaned last when everyone's tired, and it shows.

6. Loose rust scale

Can rust cause hold rejection? Yes, loose rust can, and does. Hard, tightly adhering rust is usually accepted for grain. Scale that lifts when you put a scraper under its edge is not. Some inspectors set limits by area. The USDA standards quoted in The Swedish Club's guide allow a single patch of loose scale or paint up to 10 sq ft, or patches totalling 100 sq ft, before a hold is unfit. Others accept none at all.

7. Loose and flaking paint

Can loose paint cause rejection? Same answer, same reason. Flaking paint becomes a contaminant. It's particularly common on hatch cover undersides and upper bulkheads where nobody's been with a scraper for years.

8. Cargo stains

Can cargo stains cause rejection? It depends whether the stain transfers. A surveyor who rubs a white cloth on a frame and gets a black mark will fail the hold. A stain that's genuinely discoloured paint and won't come off may be accepted, but that's the surveyor's call, not yours. After coal and petcoke, treat every stain as residue until a cloth says otherwise.

9. Moisture and wet patches

Can moisture cause rejection? Absolutely. A hold that's been washed perfectly and closed damp will fail. Standing water under the hopper, wet bilge wells and condensation running down the bulkheads are all fails for grain and other moisture-sensitive cargoes.

10. Chlorides from seawater

Holds washed with seawater and not rinsed with fresh water keep a salt film. It draws moisture and can make the hold sweat. If chlorides are found, it can also complicate any later claim about water damage, because it looks like seawater got in.

11. Odour

Can smell cause hold rejection? Yes. Some cargoes leave a strong smell: certain fertilisers, fishmeal, some ores, sulphur. A grain surveyor won't accept a hold that smells of the previous cargo, however clean it looks.

12. Insects and infestation

Mostly a risk after agricultural cargoes. Insects live in residue in corners and bilge wells. One live insect can fail a grain hold.

Can a small amount of previous cargo cause rejection?

For grain and similar cargoes, yes. The standard is no residue of the previous cargo, and surveyors interpret that literally. A handful of coal dust on a bracket is enough. That's why the hard-to-reach areas matter far more than the tank top.

How clean does a hold need to be before inspection?

Clean enough that you, standing where the surveyor will stand, with their torch and their scraper, can't find anything. That's the only test that works. The standard is set by the next cargo, and for anything grain-related, assume strictness. We've covered the detail in our guide to hold cleanliness standards.

Why does the hold look clean but still fail?

Because you're looking at the tank top and the surveyor is looking at everything else. We've written a whole piece on this: why a hold that looks clean still fails inspection.

How to pre-inspect: what the Chief Officer should check before calling the surveyor

Walk each hold with:

• A high-powered torch (sweep it low across surfaces to show up dust)
• A scraper or knife to test rust
• A white cloth to test stains
• A camera

Then check, in order: hatch cover undersides and coamings; upper structure, frames and brackets (top faces); hopper tank tops; bulkheads; ladders and platforms; pipe guards; lower hoppers; tank top; bilge wells. Smell the hold. Look for insects in corners. Feel for damp.

Anything you find, fix and recheck. Photograph each hold when you're done. That record matters if there's a dispute later. The full step-by-step checklist is in how to prepare cargo holds for grain.

What areas do surveyors commonly find dirty?

Top of frame brackets, upper hopper sloping plates, under the hatch covers, ladder rungs and platforms, pipe guards, the upper stiffeners of transverse bulkheads and the bilge wells. If your pre-inspection covers those, it covers most rejections.

If you fail: what happens next

You'll normally get a list of the findings. Ask for it in writing, hold by hold. Fix exactly what's listed and anything like it nearby, and call the surveyor back. Keep a timeline, as off-hire and laytime disputes often hinge on it.

If the findings are on the upper structure and the crew can't reach them quickly, a rope access team can usually clear them faster than rigging staging. Send us the survey report and we'll tell you how fast we can turn it round.