West Bengal · INCCU

Hold Cleaning at Kolkata Port

Holds ready for the next fixture at Kolkata Port — the most demanding underwater working environment in India.

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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 Kolkata Port (INCCU), West Bengal — shore gangs alongside, riding crews on the passage out, and IRATA rope access teams for the upper hold. The standard is the one the next fixture demands, and the residue and washings are disposed of to MARPOL Annex V rather than left with the master.

Kolkata is India's oldest operating major port and the only true riverine one, serving eastern India and the landlocked neighbours through feeder and general cargo tonnage. Between the draft restriction, the current and the visibility, it is the most technically demanding underwater working environment on this coast.

Working conditions at Kolkata

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 north-east monsoon sets the outer limits of the calendar, roughly October to December, and it affects the anchorage far more than the berth. Access approval runs through Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata and the terminal, and the disposal route for residues and washings is fixed before the gang boards rather than found afterwards.

Where we work: Kidderpore and Netaji Subhas dock berths · River moorings
Vessels we see here: Feeder container ships · General cargo ships · Coastal tonnage

Hold Cleaning scopes at Kolkata

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

Planning the window at Kolkata

The north-east monsoon governs the calendar at Kolkata Port, roughly October to December. The Bay of Bengal also carries cyclone risk in April to June and again from October to December, so an anchorage attendance on this coast is planned with a standby allowance rather than a single fixed date. 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 Kolkata (CCU), 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 Kolkata

Vessels arrive at Kolkata draft-restricted and often part-loaded, which changes the hold cleaning job: fewer holds worked at once, more sequencing around remaining cargo, and a long river passage either side that a riding crew can use productively.

Kolkata Port runs containers, general and project cargo, fertiliser 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.

How we deliver it at Kolkata

1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the last and next cargo and the window at Kolkata. 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 Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata 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 Kolkata, not an assurance. Where reception is limited, the plan changes rather than the paperwork.
3
Mobilisation to Kolkata
Gangs, pumps, chemicals and equipment mobilise via Kolkata (CCU). Where a vessel is also calling at Haldia, 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.

Kolkata Port at a glance

UN/LOCODE: INCCU
Port type: Major Port
State: West Bengal
Country: India
Water body: Hooghly River
Port authority: Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata
Main cargoes: Containers, General and project cargo, Fertiliser, Food grain, Coal
Crew mobilisation: Kolkata (CCU)
Services here: Hull Cleaning and Hold Cleaning

Frequently asked — Kolkata Port

Does Cleanship provide hold cleaning at Kolkata Port?

Yes. We cover the full hold cleaning scope at Kolkata Port (INCCU), West Bengal — cargo hold cleaning (shore gang), hold cleaning riding crew and rope access hold cleaning. Teams mobilise via Kolkata (CCU).

Where is the work done at Kolkata — 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.

Who approves hold cleaning work at Kolkata?

Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata issues the port-side approval at Kolkata 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 Kolkata?

Feeder container ships, General cargo ships and Coastal tonnage — Kolkata Port is the most demanding underwater working environment in India, handling containers, general and project cargo, fertiliser, food grain, coal. Those are the profiles we see most, and the scope is sized to the vessel rather than to a standard package.

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

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 Kolkata?

Yes. Haldia, Dhamra and Paradip 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 45 ports on the coverage list for this line.

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