Abu Dhabi · AERUW

Hold Cleaning at Ruwais Port

Holds ready for the next fixture at Ruwais Port — the UAE's largest refining and petrochemical export 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 Ruwais Port (AERUW), Abu Dhabi — 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.

Ruwais is the UAE's largest refining and petrochemical export complex, loading crude, refined products, LPG and sulphur to dedicated berths. The tonnage is large and specialised, and the port calls are governed end to end by terminal windows.

Working conditions at Ruwais

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 AD Ports Group and the terminal operator 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 · Sulphur bulk carriers

Hold Cleaning scopes at Ruwais

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

Planning the window at Ruwais

The shamal governs the calendar at Ruwais Port, through the winter months and again in early summer. The shamal is a wind and sea-state problem rather than a rain one: it builds short, steep seas across the shallow Gulf that stop anchorage work while berths stay usable. 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 Abu Dhabi (AUH) or Dubai (DXB), 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 Ruwais

The hold scope at Ruwais is sulphur: an aggressive, acidic residue that attacks coatings and steel if it is left, and one that a following cargo will not tolerate. Washing and neutralising is a specification job, not a sweep, and it is normally worked on the passage out rather than at a loading berth.

The standing residues at Ruwais 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.

How we deliver it at Ruwais

1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the last and next cargo and the window at Ruwais. 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 AD Ports Group and the terminal operator 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 Ruwais, not an assurance. Where reception is limited, the plan changes rather than the paperwork.
3
Mobilisation to Ruwais
Gangs, pumps, chemicals and equipment mobilise via Abu Dhabi (AUH) or Dubai (DXB). Where a vessel is also calling at Khalifa Port, 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.

Ruwais Port at a glance

UN/LOCODE: AERUW
Port type: Private Port
Emirate: Abu Dhabi
Country: United Arab Emirates
Water body: Arabian Gulf
Port authority: AD Ports Group and the terminal operator
Main cargoes: Crude oil, Refined products, Petrochemicals, LPG, Sulphur
Crew mobilisation: Abu Dhabi (AUH) / Dubai (DXB)
Services here: Hull Cleaning, Hold Cleaning and Tank Cleaning

Frequently asked — Ruwais Port

Does Cleanship provide hold cleaning at Ruwais Port?

Yes. We cover the full hold cleaning scope at Ruwais Port (AERUW), Abu Dhabi — cargo hold cleaning (shore gang), hold cleaning riding crew and rope access hold cleaning. Teams mobilise via Abu Dhabi (AUH) or Dubai (DXB).

Where is the work done at Ruwais — 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 Ruwais?

AD Ports Group and the terminal operator issues the port-side approval at Ruwais 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 Ruwais?

VLCC and Suezmax crude tankers, Product and chemical tankers, LPG carriers, Sulphur bulk carriers — Ruwais Port is the UAE's largest refining and petrochemical export complex, handling crude oil, refined products, petrochemicals, lpg and sulphur. 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 Ruwais?

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 Ruwais?

Yes. Khalifa Port, Zayed Port and Jebel Ali 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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