Bas-Sassandra · CISPY

Hold Cleaning at San Pédro Port

Holds ready for the next fixture at San Pédro Port — the world's largest cocoa export port.

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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 San Pédro Port (CISPY), Bas-Sassandra — shore gangs alongside, riding crews on the passage out, and IRATA rope access teams for the upper hold. Cocoa is the whole story here. It is food-grade, it is odour-sensitive, and it will reject a hold that carried manganese or timber treatment residue without a full clean. San Pédro is where the difference between a swept hold and a grain-clean hold turns into a rejected fixture.

Working conditions at San Pédro

Work here runs both alongside and at anchorage depending on the call, and on the passage out where neither gives enough time. The Atlantic swell and the rains sets the outer limits of the calendar, with the heaviest rain from May to October and swell running year-round, and it affects the anchorage far more than the berth. Humidity is high year-round and the rains make it worse, which matters more than temperature for enclosed-space work: holds will not dry, and a hold that cannot be dried cannot be closed. Access approval runs through Port Autonome de San Pédro and the terminal, and the disposal route for residues and washings is fixed before the gang boards rather than found afterwards.

Where we work: Breakwater berths · Outer anchorage
Vessels we see here: Handysize bulk carriers · General cargo and reefer vessels · Feeder container ships

Hold Cleaning scopes at San Pédro

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

Planning the window at San Pédro

The Atlantic swell and the rains governs the calendar at San Pédro Port, with the heaviest rain from May to October and swell running year-round. 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.

Teams mobilise via San Pédro (SPY) or Abidjan (ABJ), 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 San Pédro

The standing residues at San Pédro Port are cocoa, timber and logs, manganese ore — 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.

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 San Pédro

1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the last and next cargo and the window at San Pédro. 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
Port Autonome de San Pédro approves the work alongside the local harbour master, and at a state port that conversation is quicker but less formal — it is worth having in writing. 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 San Pédro is limited, the plan changes rather than the paperwork.
3
Mobilisation to San Pédro
Gangs, pumps, chemicals and equipment mobilise via San Pédro (SPY) or Abidjan (ABJ). Where a vessel is also calling at Abidjan, 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.

San Pédro Port at a glance

UN/LOCODE: CISPY
Port type: State Port
State: Bas-Sassandra
Country: Côte d'Ivoire
Water body: Gulf of Guinea
Port authority: Port Autonome de San Pédro
Main cargoes: Cocoa, Timber and logs, Manganese ore, Containers, General cargo
Crew mobilisation: San Pédro (SPY) / Abidjan (ABJ)
Services here: Hull Cleaning and Hold Cleaning

Frequently asked — San Pédro Port

Does Cleanship provide hold cleaning at San Pédro Port?

Yes. We cover the full hold cleaning scope at San Pédro Port (CISPY), Bas-Sassandra — cargo hold cleaning (shore gang), hold cleaning riding crew and rope access hold cleaning. Teams mobilise via San Pédro (SPY) or Abidjan (ABJ).

Where is the work done at San Pédro — 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 San Pédro?

Port Autonome de San Pédro issues the port-side approval at San Pédro 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 San Pédro?

Handysize bulk carriers, General cargo and reefer vessels, Feeder container ships — San Pédro Port is the world's largest cocoa export port, handling cocoa, timber and logs, manganese ore, containers, general 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 San Pédro?

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 San Pédro?

Yes. Abidjan, Monrovia and Tema 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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