Cargo Hold Cleaning (Shore Gang) at Mangalore Port
Holds ready for the next fixture before the vessel sails
Get a quote
Tell us the vessel, the port and the window. Scoped reply, usually the same working day.
Cleanship Marine puts shore gangs on board at Mangalore Port, Karnataka, to clean cargo holds between fixtures — sweeping, washing, rinsing and drying to the standard the next cargo demands, worked at the liquid berths and dry bulk berths.
New Mangalore is a major port built around liquid bulk — crude for the local refinery, LPG and edible oil — with iron ore pellets and containers alongside. Tanker tonnage working to tight terminal windows dominates, so an underwater scope here is normally sized to fit a single berth slot end to end.
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 Mangalore
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 south-west monsoon sets the outer limits of the calendar, roughly June to September, and it affects the anchorage far more than the berth. Access approval runs through New Mangalore Port Authority and the terminal, and the disposal route for residues and washings is fixed before the gang boards rather than found afterwards.
- Where we work
- Liquid berths · Dry bulk berths · Outer anchorage
- Vessels we see here
- Crude and product tankers · LPG carriers · Bulk carriers · Feeder container ships
What we do at Mangalore
- 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 Mangalore
- Hold-by-hold photographic record and a completion report ahead of the inspection
Planning the window at Mangalore
The south-west monsoon governs the calendar at Mangalore Port, roughly June to September. Swell and reduced surface visibility close most open-water work on this coast for the duration, and the weeks either side are unreliable rather than unusable. 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 Mangaluru (IXE), 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 Mangalore
Iron ore pellets and fertiliser are the recurring residues, and the pellet fines are the ones that stain. Most tonnage here works to tight terminal windows, so the practical answer is usually a riding crew finishing on the outward passage rather than a shore gang trying to hold a berth.
Mangalore Port runs crude and pol, lpg, iron ore pellets through the same holds, and that sequence is where the money is lost: mineral fines and dust from one fixture will fail an inspection for the next if the holds are only swept. The standard that matters is the one the next cargo demands, not the one the last one left.
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 Mangalore
- 1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the last and next cargo and the window at Mangalore. 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
Access and working approval is arranged with New Mangalore Port Authority and the terminal, and the disposal route for residues and washings is fixed before the gang boards — MARPOL Annex V compliance is a documented chain at Mangalore, not an assurance. Where reception is limited, the plan changes rather than the paperwork.
- 3
Mobilisation to Mangalore
Gangs, pumps, chemicals and equipment mobilise via Mangaluru (IXE). Where a vessel is also calling at Cochin, 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.
Mangalore Port at a glance
- UN/LOCODE
- INIXE
- Port type
- Major Port
- State
- Karnataka
- Country
- India
- Water body
- Arabian Sea
- Port authority
- New Mangalore Port Authority
- Main cargoes
- Crude and POL, LPG, Iron ore pellets, Fertiliser and raw materials, Containers, Edible oil
- Crew mobilisation
- Mangaluru (IXE)
- Services here
- Hull Cleaning, Hold Cleaning and Tank Cleaning
Frequently asked — Cargo Hold Cleaning at Mangalore
Do you provide cargo hold cleaning at Mangalore Port?
Yes. Cleanship Marine works Mangalore Port (INIXE) in Karnataka, India, covering the liquid berths, dry bulk berths and outer anchorage. Teams mobilise via Mangaluru (IXE) with the full spread.
Can cargo hold cleaning be done while the vessel works cargo at Mangalore?
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 Mangalore and tell you honestly whether the window you have is enough.
How are hold washings and cargo residues disposed of at Mangalore?
To MARPOL Annex V, through the reception route agreed with New Mangalore Port Authority 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 Mangalore is limited, we change the plan rather than the paperwork.
Where is the work done at Mangalore — 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.
Which vessels do you carry out cargo hold cleaning on at Mangalore?
Crude and product tankers, LPG carriers, Bulk carriers, Feeder container ships — the traffic at Mangalore Port runs to crude and pol, lpg, iron ore pellets, 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 Mangalore?
Crews and equipment mobilise via Mangaluru (IXE). 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 Cochin or Karwar, one mobilisation is often sized to cover both.
What does cargo hold cleaning at Mangalore 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 Mangalore 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 Mangalore and you get a scoped price, usually the same working day.
Cargo Hold Cleaning (Shore Gang) at Mangalore Port.
Tell us the vessel, her ETA at Mangalore and the window. You get a scope, a crew size and an honest duration — usually the same working day.