Cargo Hold Cleaning (Shore Gang) at Jubail Port
Holds ready for the next fixture before the vessel sails
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Tell us the vessel, the port and the window. Scoped reply, usually the same working day.
Cleanship Marine puts shore gangs on board at Jubail Port, Eastern Province, to clean cargo holds between fixtures — sweeping, washing, rinsing and drying to the standard the next cargo demands, worked at the chemical and liquid berths, general cargo quays.
The hold scope at Jubail is sulphur and bulk polymer: sulphur is acidic, it attacks coatings and steel if it is left, and no following cargo will tolerate it. Washing and neutralising is a specification job worked on the passage out rather than at a loading berth.
What it gets you
- Holds presented to the standard the next fixture actually requires
- Inspection failures and the resulting demurrage avoided
- Residue and washings disposed of to MARPOL Annex V rather than left as the master's problem
- Crew kept on their own work instead of on cleaning duty
Working conditions at Jubail
Work here starts alongside, and where the berth window runs out it continues on the outward passage with a riding crew — the berth will not be held open for it. The shamal sets the outer limits of the calendar, through the winter months and again in early summer, and it affects the anchorage far more than the berth. The larger constraint here is heat. Between June and September, working temperatures inside a cargo hold or a tank at this port routinely exceed anything a full shift can be worked in, so enclosed-space work runs to shortened cycles with enforced rest, forced ventilation and more people than the same job needs in winter. Pricing a Gulf summer tank entry on a winter productivity assumption is the most common way these jobs overrun. Access approval runs through Mawani and the Royal Commission for Jubail and the terminal, and the disposal route for residues and washings is fixed before the gang boards rather than found afterwards.
- Where we work
- Chemical and liquid berths · General cargo quays · Outer anchorage
- Vessels we see here
- Chemical and product tankers · LPG carriers · Bulk carriers · General cargo and project vessels
What we do at Jubail
- Sweeping and removal of cargo residues, dunnage and lashing waste from tank tops, frames and brackets
- Fresh or sea water washing with the correct chemical treatment for the residue found, followed by a fresh water rinse
- Bilge wells, strum boxes, bilge lines and hold ladders cleaned and tested
- Drying and ventilation so holds pass inspection rather than merely look clean
- Residue and washing water handled to MARPOL Annex V requirements and the disposal rules in force at Jubail
- Hold-by-hold photographic record and a completion report ahead of the inspection
Planning the window at Jubail
The shamal governs the calendar at Jubail Port, through the winter months and again in early summer. For hold work the wind matters less than the rain: holds cannot be washed, dried and closed in wet weather, and a hold shut up damp fails inspection however clean it looks. Turnaround here is quick and the berth will not be held open for cleaning, so the work is either sequenced hold by hold behind the discharge as each one empties, or handed to a riding crew to complete on the passage out. Waiting for all holds to be empty is waiting past the berth window.
Teams mobilise via Dammam (DMM), so give us the ETA as early as you have it — the travel is the flexible part, the approvals and the working window are not.
What we typically find at Jubail
The standing residues at Jubail Port are petrochemicals, liquid chemicals and sulphur — the dusty, abrasive kind that films every surface and packs into frames, brackets and the tank-top margins. Anything following into a clean or food-grade cargo needs the full sequence: sweep, wash, rinse and dry, not a hose down.
What we usually find here is a partial job already attempted: crew sweeping between grabs, with the frames, brackets and tank-top margins untouched because there was never the time to reach them. Those are exactly the places an inspection looks.
Standard scope of work
Included as standard on every cargo hold cleaning attendance, wherever the vessel is. Anything outside it is quoted separately and flagged before mobilisation, never added afterwards.
- Sweeping and residue removal
- Full manual and mechanical sweep of tank tops, hoppers, brackets and frames, with residues bagged for landing ashore in line with MARPOL Annex V.
- High-pressure washing
- Fresh or sea water washing at working pressures suited to the coating condition, covering tank top, hopper plating, side frames, bulkheads and the underside of hatch covers.
- Chemical treatment
- Application of marine-approved, biodegradable degreasers and hold cleaners where previous cargoes have left oily, staining or odour-bearing residues.
- Rinsing and drying
- Fresh water rinse to remove salt and chemical traces, followed by forced drying and bilge drying so holds present dry, odour-free and free of loose scale.
- Bilge wells and hatch coamings
- Bilge wells cleaned, strainers cleared and non-return valves tested; coamings, drain channels and compression bars cleaned so hatch covers seal correctly.
How we deliver it at Jubail
- 1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the last and next cargo and the window at Jubail. We come back with a defined scope, a crew size and a duration we will stand behind. Where the conditions here will not support what has been asked for, we say so at this stage rather than after mobilisation.
- 2
Approvals and waste routing
Mawani and the Royal Commission for Jubail runs a statutory permit process here, so the lead time is real and the application goes in early rather than on arrival. The disposal route for residues and washings is fixed before the gang boards — MARPOL Annex V compliance is a documented chain, not an assurance. Where reception at Jubail is limited, the plan changes rather than the paperwork.
- 3
Mobilisation to Jubail
Gangs, pumps, chemicals and equipment mobilise via Dammam (DMM). Where a vessel is also calling at Dammam, one mobilisation is normally sized to cover both.
- 4
Entry, sequencing and the work
Enclosed-space entry runs to the vessel's own permit system, with a fresh gas test before every entry and after every break. Gas testing, standby cover and continuous supervision run throughout, and progress is reported hold by hold rather than only at the end.
- 5
Report and handover
A completion report covering cargo hold cleaning is issued with before-and-after imagery, hold by hold and anything found that you should know about. The findings are discussed with the vessel rather than emailed and forgotten.
Jubail Port at a glance
- UN/LOCODE
- SAJBI
- Port type
- Major Port
- State
- Eastern Province
- Country
- Saudi Arabia
- Water body
- Arabian Gulf
- Port authority
- Mawani and the Royal Commission for Jubail
- Main cargoes
- Petrochemicals, Liquid chemicals, Sulphur, Containers, Project cargo and steel
- Crew mobilisation
- Dammam (DMM)
- Services here
- Hull Cleaning, Hold Cleaning and Tank Cleaning
Frequently asked — Cargo Hold Cleaning at Jubail
Do you provide cargo hold cleaning at Jubail Port?
Yes. Cleanship Marine works Jubail Port (SAJBI) in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, covering the chemical and liquid berths, general cargo quays, outer anchorage. Teams mobilise via Dammam (DMM) with the full spread.
Can cargo hold cleaning be done while the vessel works cargo at Jubail?
Partly. Holds are worked one at a time behind the discharge as each empties, but the berth will not be held for the remainder — so the realistic plan is to start alongside and finish with a riding crew on the passage out. The vessel stays on hire throughout, and there is no diversion and no dry dock. We scope against the conditions at Jubail and tell you honestly whether the window you have is enough.
How are hold washings and cargo residues disposed of at Jubail?
To MARPOL Annex V, through the reception route agreed with Mawani and the Royal Commission for Jubail and the terminal before the gang boards. Residues, sweepings and washing water are tracked from the hold to reception with documentation, so the vessel has a record rather than an assurance. Where reception capacity at Jubail is limited, we change the plan rather than the paperwork.
Where is the work done at Jubail — alongside, at anchorage or on passage?
Work here starts alongside, and where the berth window runs out it continues on the outward passage with a riding crew — the berth will not be held open for it. Between June and September the binding constraint is working temperature inside the space rather than access to it.
Which vessels do you carry out cargo hold cleaning on at Jubail?
Chemical and product tankers, LPG carriers, Bulk carriers, General cargo and project vessels — the traffic at Jubail Port runs to petrochemicals, liquid chemicals and sulphur, so those are the profiles we see most. The scope is sized to the vessel, not to a standard package.
How quickly can a team mobilise to Jubail?
Crews and equipment mobilise via Dammam (DMM). Give us the ETA and the window and we will confirm what is achievable rather than promise a date we cannot hold. Where the vessel also calls at Dammam or Jeddah, one mobilisation is often sized to cover both.
What does cargo hold cleaning at Jubail cost?
It depends on the number of holds, the residue from the last cargo, the standard the next fixture demands and how much time the call at Jubail actually gives. We would rather scope it properly and give you a specific figure than quote a headline rate that changes once the work starts. Send the details and the window at Jubail and you get a scoped price, usually the same working day.
Cargo Hold Cleaning (Shore Gang) at Jubail Port.
Tell us the vessel, her ETA at Jubail and the window. You get a scope, a crew size and an honest duration — usually the same working day.


