Western Province · LKCMB

Hold Cleaning at Colombo Port

Holds ready for the next fixture at Colombo Port — South Asia's largest transhipment and bunkering hub.

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Tell us the vessel, the port and the window. Scoped reply, usually the same working day.

Cleanship Marine cleans cargo holds at Colombo Port (LKCMB), Western Province — shore gangs alongside, riding crews on the passage out, and IRATA rope access teams for the upper hold. Colombo's hold work is mostly transhipment container tonnage — cell guides, hold bilges, bilge wells and tank tops — plus cement and agricultural bulk on the regional callers. Tea and food-grade cargo out of Sri Lanka is odour-sensitive, so a hold that carried cement or fertiliser inbound needs the full sequence, not a sweep.

Working conditions at Colombo

Work here runs both alongside and at anchorage depending on the call, and on the passage out where neither gives enough time. The two monsoons sets the outer limits of the calendar, the south-west from May to September and the north-east from December to February, and it affects the anchorage far more than the berth. Humidity is high year-round rather than seasonal, so enclosed-space work here is planned with ventilation and rest cycles in every month, not just the summer. Access approval runs through Sri Lanka Ports 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: Container terminal berths · Bunkering anchorage · General cargo quays
Vessels we see here: Main-line and feeder container ships · Bunker tankers and barges · General cargo ships · Cruise ships

Hold Cleaning scopes at Colombo

3 scopes, one team and one mobilisation. Most vessels calling here take more than one on the same attendance.

Planning the window at Colombo

The two monsoons governs the calendar at Colombo Port, the south-west from May to September and the north-east from December to February. 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. Some vessels sit and some turn straight round, so the plan is agreed against the actual call rather than a standard package: a shore gang alongside where there is time, a riding crew on the outward passage where there is not.

Cleanship holds an operating base at Colombo, so we can hold a team ready against a shifting ETA rather than committing travel to a date that may move.

What we typically find at Colombo

Agricultural and fertiliser parcels dominate here, and they are the unforgiving residues: hygroscopic, corrosive to coatings if left damp, and an outright inspection failure ahead of a food-grade cargo. Holds shut up wet at Colombo are holds that need doing twice.

The condition we find here varies more than at most ports, because some vessels have had days at anchor to work the holds and some have had none. The scope is confirmed on boarding rather than assumed from the fixture.

How we deliver it at Colombo

1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the last and next cargo and the window at Colombo. 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
Sri Lanka Ports Authority 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 Colombo is limited, the plan changes rather than the paperwork.
3
Mobilisation to Colombo
Cleanship holds an operating base at Colombo, so gangs, pumps, chemicals and equipment are on the ground rather than in transit. That is the difference between meeting a window and missing it.
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 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.

Colombo Port at a glance

UN/LOCODE: LKCMB
Port type: Major Port
State: Western Province
Country: Sri Lanka
Water body: Indian Ocean
Port authority: Sri Lanka Ports Authority
Main cargoes: Containers and transhipment, Bunkers, General cargo, Cement and dry bulk, Tea and agricultural cargo
Crew mobilisation: Colombo (CMB)
Services here: Hull Cleaning, Hold Cleaning and Tank Cleaning

Frequently asked — Colombo Port

Does Cleanship provide hold cleaning at Colombo Port?

Yes. We cover the full hold cleaning scope at Colombo Port (LKCMB), Western Province — cargo hold cleaning (shore gang), hold cleaning riding crew and rope access hold cleaning. Cleanship holds an operating base at Colombo.

Where is the work done at Colombo — alongside, at anchorage or on passage?

Work here runs both alongside and at anchorage depending on the call, and on the passage out where neither gives enough time. Between June and September the binding constraint is working temperature inside the space rather than access to it.

Who approves hold cleaning work at Colombo?

Sri Lanka Ports Authority issues the port-side approval at Colombo Port, with terminal approval on top where the berth requires it. We arrange both, along with the waste reception and disposal route, so it does not fall to the agent or the master.

Which vessels call at Colombo?

Main-line and feeder container ships, Bunker tankers and barges, General cargo ships, Cruise ships — Colombo Port is South Asia's largest transhipment and bunkering hub, handling containers and transhipment, bunkers, general cargo, cement and dry bulk, tea and agricultural cargo. What sizes a hold job is the number of holds, the last cargo and the standard the next fixture demands — not the vessel's dimensions.

Can this be done without taking the vessel off hire at Colombo?

Yes — that is the point of it. Every scope listed here is carried out with the vessel afloat and working, at the berth, at the anchorage or on the passage out. Shore gangs work alongside or at anchorage and riding crews finish on the passage, so no port time is spent on cleaning and the vessel is never off hire.

Do you cover other ports near Colombo?

Yes. Galle, Trincomalee and Puttalam all sit within the same operating range for hold cleaning, and a single mobilisation is often sized to cover more than one vessel on the same trip. We work 63 ports on the coverage list for this line.

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