Gujarat · INNAV

Hull Cleaning at Navlakhi Port

In-water hull, propeller and survey work at Navlakhi Port — tide-dependent jetty working at the head of the Gulf of Kutch.

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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 Navlakhi Port (INNAV), Gujarat — 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.

Navlakhi is a Gujarat Maritime Board port near Morbi handling coal, bauxite and salt for the ceramics and industrial belt inland. Traffic is smaller bulk tonnage and barges rather than deep-sea liner ships, and work here is usually combined with a Kandla or Mundra call in the same mobilisation.

Working conditions at Navlakhi

Navlakhi is a tidal port at the head of the Gulf of Kutch, so depth alongside is tide-dependent and the streams through the approach run hard. Silt keeps visibility very low and dive windows short, planned to slack water. Larger vessels are lightened at anchor before coming in, so a good proportion of the underwater work here is done off the port rather than at the jetty, and the mobilisation plan has to cover both.

Where we work: Tidal jetty berths · Lightening anchorage
Vessels we see here: Handysize bulk carriers · Barges and coastal tonnage

Hull Cleaning scopes at Navlakhi

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

Planning the window at Navlakhi

The south-west monsoon governs the calendar at Navlakhi Port, roughly June to September. Swell and reduced surface visibility close most open-water work on this coast for the duration, and the weeks either side are unreliable rather than unusable. The tidal stream and the silt load govern the method here: the working window is slack water, not the working day, and the operation is planned by feel and surface supervision with video kept as the record rather than as the diver's means of navigation.

Work is taken at the tidal jetty berths and lightening anchorage, and which of those a vessel ends up at changes the dive plan more than the season does. Teams mobilise via Rajkot (RAJ) or Kandla (IXY), 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 Navlakhi

Dry bulk handling here puts cargo dust into the water around the berths and anchorage. It settles on horizontal surfaces and packs into sea chest gratings and inlet openings, so inlet and grating clearance is routinely a larger part of the job at Navlakhi than owners budget for.

Silt settles over the growth on the flat bottom and in the niches, which masks the true fouling state until the divers are actually on it. That is why the pre-clean survey here is a real step rather than a formality.

How we deliver it at Navlakhi

1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the coating specification and the window at Navlakhi. 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
Diving permission is obtained from Gujarat Maritime Board, along with terminal approval where the berth requires it and any environmental clearance for in-water work. This is handled by us, not left with the agent to chase.
3
Mobilisation to Navlakhi
Divers, compressors, brush carts and cameras mobilise via Rajkot (RAJ) or Kandla (IXY). Where a vessel is also calling at Kandla, 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.

Navlakhi Port at a glance

UN/LOCODE: INNAV
Port type: State Port
State: Gujarat
Country: India
Water body: Gulf of Kutch
Port authority: Gujarat Maritime Board
Main cargoes: Coal, Bauxite, Salt, Fertiliser, Agricultural bulk
Crew mobilisation: Rajkot (RAJ) / Kandla (IXY)
Services here: Hull Cleaning and Hold Cleaning

Frequently asked — Navlakhi Port

Does Cleanship provide hull cleaning at Navlakhi Port?

Yes. We cover the full hull cleaning scope at Navlakhi Port (INNAV), Gujarat — underwater hull cleaning, propeller polishing, thruster cleaning & polishing, in-water class survey and uwild. Teams mobilise via Rajkot (RAJ) or Kandla (IXY).

What is underwater visibility like at Navlakhi?

Visibility at Navlakhi Port is habitually very low, and often close to nil at the turn, and the south-west monsoon 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 Navlakhi?

Gujarat Maritime Board issues the port-side approval at Navlakhi Port, 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 Navlakhi?

Handysize bulk carriers, Barges and coastal tonnage — Navlakhi Port is tide-dependent jetty working at the head of the Gulf of Kutch, handling coal, bauxite, salt, fertiliser and agricultural bulk. 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 Navlakhi?

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 Navlakhi?

Yes. Kandla, Mundra and Okha 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 46 ports on the coverage list for this line.

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