Abidjan

Hull Cleaning at Lion Terminal

In-water hull, propeller and survey work at Lion Terminal — the crude discharge buoy off Port-Bouët.

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

Cleanship Marine provides the full underwater scope at Lion Terminal, Abidjan — hull cleaning, propeller super polishing, bow and stern thruster work, class-approved in-water survey and UWILD. Every scope is carried out with the vessel afloat and on hire, at the berth or at the anchorage.

Lion Terminal is the crude oil discharge buoy off Port-Bouët, just outside the Vridi Canal, where tankers of 80,000 to 250,000 deadweight tonnes — up to a 21-metre draft — discharge crude for the refinery and storage complex at Vridi. It is one of the few places on this coast that takes very large crude carriers, and it is too deep and too exposed for anything but a buoy.

Working conditions at Lion

Lion Terminal is a single point mooring in open sea about 1.2 nautical miles off the Port-Bouët lighthouse, so there is no shelter at all: a tanker on the buoy, or waiting for it, takes the full Atlantic swell running onto this coast. Mooring is in daylight only, and pilots board at a temporary anchorage a few miles off the Vridi Canal entrance. No in-water work is done at the buoy or while a tanker is connected; it happens at that anchorage, before or after.

Where we work: Temporary anchorage off the Vridi Canal entrance · Sea area outside the SPM safety zone
Vessels we see here: Crude tankers of 80,000 to 250,000 dwt · Mooring and support craft

Hull Cleaning scopes at Lion

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

Planning the window at Lion

The combination of Atlantic swell and rain governs the calendar at Lion Terminal, with the heaviest rain from May to October and swell running year-round. The swell here is long-period Atlantic ground swell rather than wind-driven sea, so it reaches the anchorages on days that look calm from the bridge and it is the single biggest cause of a lost in-water window on this coast. The buoy itself is off limits, so hull work is done with the tanker at the temporary anchorage off the Vridi Canal entrance, before she is moored or after she is released; the dive plan is built around the daylight mooring schedule and the swell.

Work is taken at the temporary anchorage off the Vridi Canal entrance and sea area outside the SPM safety zone, and which of those a vessel ends up at changes the dive plan more than the season does. Teams mobilise via 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 Lion

Liquid and gas tonnage here spends long stretches at the terminal or waiting for a slot, so growth tends to be even and well established across the hull rather than patchy — heavier than the trading pattern suggests, and further along than a speed report alone would indicate.

The large crude tankers that discharge at Lion Terminal often wait at the anchorage for their daylight mooring slot, and waiting in warm Gulf of Guinea water is what adds growth fastest. Because they arrive laden and leave light, the hull they present at the anchorage before discharge is at its deepest — the full wetted area is underwater.

How we deliver it at Lion

1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the coating specification and the window at Lion. 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
Permits and approvals
Access at Lion Terminal is the terminal operator's decision as much as Port Autonome d'Abidjan's, so both are in the approval chain from the start — a berth-side refusal discovered at the gangway costs the whole attendance. Diving permission, terminal approval and any environmental clearance for in-water work are handled by us, not left with the agent to chase.
3
Mobilisation to Lion
Divers, compressors, brush carts and cameras mobilise via Abidjan (ABJ). Where a vessel is also calling at Vridi, one mobilisation is normally sized to cover both.
4
Safety setup and the dive
The vessel is secured for diving — main engine, shaft and thrusters immobilised, sea suctions confirmed shut, permit agreed with the master. Teams work under surface supervision with continuous diver communications and video throughout.
5
Report and handover
A completion report covering hull cleaning is issued with before-and-after imagery, coating and anode condition and anything found that you should know about. The findings are discussed with the vessel rather than emailed and forgotten.

Lion Terminal at a glance

Port type: Private Port
State: Abidjan
Country: Côte d'Ivoire
Water body: Gulf of Guinea, off Port-Bouët
Port authority: Port Autonome d'Abidjan
Main cargoes: Crude oil
Crew mobilisation: Abidjan (ABJ)
Services here: Hull Cleaning

Frequently asked — Lion Terminal

Does Cleanship provide hull cleaning at Lion Terminal?

Yes. We cover the full hull cleaning scope at Lion Terminal, Abidjan — underwater hull cleaning, propeller polishing, thruster cleaning & polishing, in-water class survey and UWILD. Teams mobilise via Abidjan (ABJ).

What is underwater visibility like at Lion?

Visibility at Lion Terminal is good by the standards of this coast — it is open sea water, clearer than the lagoon inside the Vridi Canal — so the swell rather than visibility decides when a diver can work, and the combination of Atlantic swell and rain sets the outer limits of the calendar. How the tide and sea state shape the dive plan is set out in full in the working-conditions section on this page.

Who approves hull cleaning work at Lion?

Port Autonome d'Abidjan issues the port-side approval at Lion Terminal, with terminal approval on top where the berth requires it. We arrange both, along with any environmental clearance for in-water cleaning, so it does not fall to the agent or the master.

Which vessels call at Lion?

Crude tankers of 80,000 to 250,000 dwt, Mooring and support craft — Lion Terminal is the crude discharge buoy off Port-Bouët, handling crude oil. Wetted area, coating specification and how long the vessel has been sitting are what size a hull job, so the same berth can produce very different attendances.

Can this be done without taking the vessel off hire at Lion?

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. Divers work with the vessel afloat at the berth or the anchorage, so there is no dry dock, no diversion and no off-hire.

Do you cover other ports near Lion?

Yes. Vridi, Abidjan and Espoir all sit within the same operating range for hull cleaning, and a single mobilisation is often sized to cover more than one vessel on the same trip. We work 80 ports on the coverage list for this line.

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