Yanbu Port · SAYBI

Cargo Hold Cleaning (Shore Gang) at Yanbu 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 Yanbu Port, Al Madinah Province, to clean cargo holds between fixtures — sweeping, washing, rinsing and drying to the standard the next cargo demands, worked at the crude loading berths and product jetties.

The hold scope at Yanbu is sulphur — acidic, aggressive to coating and steel, and unacceptable to any following cargo if it is left. Washing and neutralising is a specification job, and the loading berth is not where it happens; the passage out is.

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 Yanbu

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 northerly Red Sea wind sets the outer limits of the calendar, strongest through the winter and spring, and it affects the anchorage far more than the berth. Heat and humidity are the harder constraint. The Red Sea is among the warmest and most saline bodies of water the fleet trades in — which grows fouling faster than the Gulf does — and between June and September enclosed-space work runs to shortened cycles with enforced rest and forced ventilation. Access approval runs through Mawani and the Royal Commission for Yanbu and the terminal, and the disposal route for residues and washings is fixed before the gang boards rather than found afterwards.

Where we work: Crude loading berths · Product jetties · Sulphur berth
Vessels we see here: VLCC and Suezmax crude tankers · Product and chemical tankers · LPG carriers · Bulk carriers

What we do at Yanbu

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 Yanbu
Hold-by-hold photographic record and a completion report ahead of the inspection

Planning the window at Yanbu

The northerly Red Sea wind governs the calendar at Yanbu Port, strongest through the winter and spring. 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 Yanbu (YNB) or Jeddah (JED), 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 Yanbu

The standing residues at Yanbu Port are crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals — 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.

Full Hold Cleaning Shore Gang service details

How we deliver it at Yanbu

1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the last and next cargo and the window at Yanbu. 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 at Yanbu Port is the terminal operator's decision as much as Mawani and the Royal Commission for Yanbu's, so both are in the approval chain from the start — a berth-side refusal discovered at the gangway costs the whole attendance. 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 Yanbu is limited, the plan changes rather than the paperwork.
3
Mobilisation to Yanbu
Gangs, pumps, chemicals and equipment mobilise via Yanbu (YNB) or Jeddah (JED). Where a vessel is also calling at Jeddah, 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.

Yanbu Port at a glance

UN/LOCODE: SAYBI
Port type: Private Port
State: Al Madinah Province
Country: Saudi Arabia
Water body: Red Sea
Port authority: Mawani and the Royal Commission for Yanbu
Main cargoes: Crude oil, Refined products, Petrochemicals, LPG, Sulphur
Crew mobilisation: Yanbu (YNB) / Jeddah (JED)
Services here: Hull Cleaning, Hold Cleaning and Tank Cleaning

Frequently asked — Cargo Hold Cleaning at Yanbu

Do you provide cargo hold cleaning at Yanbu Port?

Yes. Cleanship Marine works Yanbu Port (SAYBI) in Al Madinah Province, Saudi Arabia, covering the crude loading berths, product jetties and sulphur berth. Teams mobilise via Yanbu (YNB) or Jeddah (JED) with the full spread.

Can cargo hold cleaning be done while the vessel works cargo at Yanbu?

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 Yanbu and tell you honestly whether the window you have is enough.

How are hold washings and cargo residues disposed of at Yanbu?

To MARPOL Annex V, through the reception route agreed with Mawani and the Royal Commission for Yanbu 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 Yanbu is limited, we change the plan rather than the paperwork.

Where is the work done at Yanbu — 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 Yanbu?

VLCC and Suezmax crude tankers, Product and chemical tankers, LPG carriers, Bulk carriers — the traffic at Yanbu Port runs to crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals, 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 Yanbu?

Crews and equipment mobilise via Yanbu (YNB) or Jeddah (JED). 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 Jeddah or King Abdullah Port, one mobilisation is often sized to cover both.

What does cargo hold cleaning at Yanbu 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 Yanbu 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 Yanbu and you get a scoped price, usually the same working day.

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