Greater Accra · GHTEM

Hold Cleaning at Tema Port

Holds ready for the next fixture at Tema Port — Ghana's main container gateway on a tight berth clock.

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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 Tema Port (GHTEM), Greater Accra — shore gangs alongside, riding crews on the passage out, and IRATA rope access teams for the upper hold. Tema discharges clinker and loads grain, which is the sequence that fails inspections: cement residue sets hard and a grain surveyor will not pass a hold carrying it. The berth clock means the honest plan is usually to start alongside and finish with a riding crew on the passage.

Working conditions at Tema

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 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 Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority and the terminal, and the disposal route for residues and washings is fixed before the gang boards rather than found afterwards.

Where we work: Container terminal berths · Bulk and general cargo quays · Oil berth · Anchorage
Vessels we see here: Main-line and feeder container ships · Handysize bulk carriers · Product tankers · Fishing fleet and reefer vessels

Hold Cleaning scopes at Tema

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

Planning the window at Tema

The Atlantic swell and the rains governs the calendar at Tema 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. 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 Accra (ACC), 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 Tema

Tema Port runs containers, clinker and cement, grain and agricultural bulk 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.

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 Tema

1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the last and next cargo and the window at Tema. 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
Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority 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 Tema is limited, the plan changes rather than the paperwork.
3
Mobilisation to Tema
Gangs, pumps, chemicals and equipment mobilise via Accra (ACC). Where a vessel is also calling at Takoradi, 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.

Tema Port at a glance

UN/LOCODE: GHTEM
Port type: State Port
State: Greater Accra
Country: Ghana
Water body: Gulf of Guinea
Port authority: Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority
Main cargoes: Containers, Clinker and cement, Grain and agricultural bulk, Crude and refined products, General cargo, Fishing catch
Crew mobilisation: Accra (ACC)
Services here: Hull Cleaning, Hold Cleaning and Tank Cleaning

Frequently asked — Tema Port

Does Cleanship provide hold cleaning at Tema Port?

Yes. We cover the full hold cleaning scope at Tema Port (GHTEM), Greater Accra — cargo hold cleaning (shore gang), hold cleaning riding crew and rope access hold cleaning. Teams mobilise via Accra (ACC).

Where is the work done at Tema — 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 Tema?

Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority issues the port-side approval at Tema 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 Tema?

Main-line and feeder container ships, Handysize bulk carriers, Product tankers, Fishing fleet and reefer vessels — Tema Port is Ghana's main container gateway on a tight berth clock, handling containers, clinker and cement, grain and agricultural bulk, crude and refined products, general cargo, fishing catch. 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 Tema?

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 Tema?

Yes. Takoradi, Lomé and Cotonou 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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