Eastern Province · SAJBI

Hold Cleaning at Jubail Port

Holds ready for the next fixture at Jubail Port — the loading port for the region's largest petrochemical complex.

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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 Jubail Port (SAJBI), Eastern Province — shore gangs alongside, riding crews on the passage out, and IRATA rope access teams for the upper hold. 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.

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

Hold Cleaning scopes at Jubail

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

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.

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 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 — Jubail Port

Does Cleanship provide hold cleaning at Jubail Port?

Yes. We cover the full hold cleaning scope at Jubail Port (SAJBI), Eastern Province — cargo hold cleaning (shore gang), hold cleaning riding crew and rope access hold cleaning. Teams mobilise via Dammam (DMM).

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.

Who approves hold cleaning work at Jubail?

Mawani and the Royal Commission for Jubail issues the port-side approval at Jubail 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 Jubail?

Chemical and product tankers, LPG carriers, Bulk carriers, General cargo and project vessels — Jubail Port is the loading port for the region's largest petrochemical complex, handling petrochemicals, liquid chemicals, sulphur, containers, project cargo and steel. 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 Jubail?

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 Jubail?

Yes. Dammam, Jeddah and Yanbu 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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