Ruwais Port · AERUW

Hold Cleaning Riding Crew at Ruwais Port

Holds cleaned on passage, no port time spent

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Tell us the vessel, the port and the window. Scoped reply, usually the same working day.

Cleanship Marine embarks riding crews at Ruwais Port, Abu Dhabi, to clean cargo holds on the passage out. The gang joins here, works the holds at sea and disembarks at a nominated port — the cleaning costs the vessel no port time at all.

Every other way of cleaning holds competes with something — the discharge, the berth window, the crew's own work. A riding crew competes with nothing: the work happens on a passage the vessel was making anyway. That is why it is the standard answer for tonnage leaving Ruwais on a ballast leg with a clean-cargo fixture waiting at the other end, and why it is the only method whose cost does not rise when the port gets busy.

What it gets you

Zero port time spent on hold cleaning — the work happens on a passage already being made
Holds ready for inspection on arrival rather than starting the job there
Ship's crew kept on watchkeeping and maintenance instead of cleaning
One team and one standard across a multi-port voyage

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

What we do at Ruwais

Crew embarked at Ruwais with tools, chemicals and PPE, cleared through the agent and the port
Full hold cleaning programme worked at sea, hold by hold, to the standard the next fixture requires
Bilge wells, strum boxes and hold bilge lines cleaned and tested on passage
Enclosed-space entry procedures, gas testing and safety supervision run to the vessel's own permit system
Disembarkation at the nominated port arranged with visas, tickets and clearances handled
Daily progress reporting to the vessel and the office, with a completion record on landing

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.

Standard scope of work

Included as standard on every riding crew hold cleaning attendance, wherever the vessel is. Anything outside it is quoted separately and flagged before mobilisation, never added afterwards.

Passage planning of the cleaning programme: The cleaning sequence is planned against the passage length, expected weather and ballast condition so every hold is completed with drying time in hand.
Complete hold preparation: Sweeping, washing, chemical treatment, rinsing and drying of all cargo holds to the agreed standard, exactly as delivered by a shore gang.
Hatch cover and coaming work: Cleaning of compression bars, drain channels and gaskets, with defects reported to the chief officer for rectification before loading.
Bilge and drainage systems: Bilge wells emptied and cleaned, strainers cleared and non-return valves tested so holds pass the water-ingress checks at inspection.
Additional deck work: Where the passage allows, the crew can extend to deck chipping, spot priming and painting under the same mobilisation.

Full Hold Cleaning Riding Crew service details

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 riding crew 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 — Hold Cleaning Riding Crew at Ruwais

Do you provide riding crew hold cleaning at Ruwais Port?

Yes. Cleanship Marine works Ruwais Port (AERUW) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, covering the crude loading berths, product jetties and sulphur berth. Teams mobilise via Abu Dhabi (AUH) or Dubai (DXB) with the full spread.

Can riding crew hold cleaning be done while the vessel works cargo at Ruwais?

Partly. Holds are worked one at a time behind the discharge as each empties, but the berth will not be held for the remainder — so the realistic plan is to start alongside and finish with a riding crew on the passage out. The vessel stays on hire throughout, and there is no diversion and no dry dock. We scope against the conditions at Ruwais and tell you honestly whether the window you have is enough.

How are hold washings and cargo residues disposed of at Ruwais?

To MARPOL Annex V, through the reception route agreed with AD Ports Group and the terminal operator and the terminal before the gang boards. Residues, sweepings and washing water are tracked from the hold to reception with documentation, so the vessel has a record rather than an assurance. Where reception capacity at Ruwais is limited, we change the plan rather than the paperwork.

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.

Which vessels do you carry out riding crew hold cleaning on at Ruwais?

VLCC and Suezmax crude tankers, Product and chemical tankers, LPG carriers, Sulphur bulk carriers — the traffic at Ruwais Port runs to crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals, so those are the profiles we see most. The scope is sized to the vessel, not to a standard package.

How quickly can a team mobilise to Ruwais?

Crews and equipment mobilise via Abu Dhabi (AUH) or Dubai (DXB). Give us the ETA and the window and we will confirm what is achievable rather than promise a date we cannot hold. Where the vessel also calls at Khalifa Port or Zayed Port, one mobilisation is often sized to cover both.

What does riding crew hold cleaning at Ruwais cost?

It depends on the number of holds, the residue from the last cargo, the standard the next fixture demands and how much time the call at Ruwais actually gives. We would rather scope it properly and give you a specific figure than quote a headline rate that changes once the work starts. Send the details and the window at Ruwais and you get a scoped price, usually the same working day.

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