Hold Cleaning at Okha Port
Holds ready for the next fixture at Okha Port — clearer water at the Gulf of Kutch entrance.
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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 Okha Port (INOKH), Gujarat — 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.
Okha is a Gujarat Maritime Board port at the tip of the Saurashtra peninsula, working salt, bauxite and bentonite along with coastal traffic. It also serves as a shelter and bunkering call for vessels entering the Gulf of Kutch, which puts idle tonnage within reach of a dive team already working the Kandla and Mundra range.
Working conditions at Okha
Work here runs both alongside and at anchorage depending on the call, and on the passage out where neither gives enough time. 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 Gujarat Maritime Board and the terminal, and the disposal route for residues and washings is fixed before the gang boards rather than found afterwards.
- Where we work
- Jetty berths · Anchorage off the port
- Vessels we see here
- Handysize bulk carriers · Coastal tankers · Barges and support craft
Hold Cleaning scopes at Okha
3 scopes, one team and one mobilisation. Most vessels calling here take more than one on the same attendance.
Planning the window at Okha
The south-west monsoon governs the calendar at Okha 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. 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.
Teams mobilise via Porbandar (PBD) or Jamnagar (JGA), 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 Okha
Salt and bentonite are the standing residues at Okha and both are hygroscopic: they cake into the frames and tank-top corners and go hard if the holds are shut up damp. Bentonite in particular has to come out completely before anything food-grade, and it does not come out by sweeping.
Okha Port runs salt, bauxite and bentonite 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 Okha
- 1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the last and next cargo and the window at Okha. 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 Gujarat Maritime Board 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 Okha, not an assurance. Where reception is limited, the plan changes rather than the paperwork.
- 3
Mobilisation to Okha
Gangs, pumps, chemicals and equipment mobilise via Porbandar (PBD) or Jamnagar (JGA). Where a vessel is also calling at Kandla, 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.
Okha Port at a glance
- UN/LOCODE
- INOKH
- Port type
- State Port
- State
- Gujarat
- Country
- India
- Water body
- Entrance to the Gulf of Kutch
- Port authority
- Gujarat Maritime Board
- Main cargoes
- Salt, Bauxite, Bentonite, General cargo, Coastal fuel
- Crew mobilisation
- Porbandar (PBD) / Jamnagar (JGA)
- Services here
- Hull Cleaning, Hold Cleaning and Tank Cleaning
Frequently asked — Okha Port
Does Cleanship provide hold cleaning at Okha Port?
Yes. We cover the full hold cleaning scope at Okha Port (INOKH), Gujarat — cargo hold cleaning (shore gang), hold cleaning riding crew and rope access hold cleaning. Teams mobilise via Porbandar (PBD) or Jamnagar (JGA).
Where is the work done at Okha — 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.
Who approves hold cleaning work at Okha?
Gujarat Maritime Board issues the port-side approval at Okha 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 Okha?
Handysize bulk carriers, Coastal tankers, Barges and support craft — Okha Port is clearer water at the Gulf of Kutch entrance, handling salt, bauxite, bentonite, general cargo and coastal fuel. 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 Okha?
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 Okha?
Yes. Kandla, Porbandar and Navlakhi 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.
Hold Cleaning at Okha Port.
Tell us the vessel, her ETA at Okha and the window. You get a scope, a crew size and an honest duration — usually the same working day.