Sal · CVPAL

Hull Cleaning at Palmeira Port

In-water hull, propeller and survey work at Palmeira Port — Sal's fuel import port in some of the clearest water on our list.

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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 Palmeira Port (CVPAL), Sal — 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.

Palmeira is the main port of Sal and the third-busiest port in Cape Verde by freight. It is a key fuel import point for the country — handling around a fifth of national energy needs — and it supplies an island whose economy runs on its international airport and resort tourism. The port opened in 1986 and was expanded in 2010 and 2015, with a further extension now planned.

Working conditions at Palmeira

Palmeira is on the west side of Sal, in the lee of an island that is flat, dry and swept by the north-east trade wind for most of the year. The island takes the wind; the bay behind it is calm. With almost no rainfall and no rivers, nothing clouds the water, and visibility here is among the best on the whole coverage list. The main constraint is the size of the port — a small pier that the fuel tankers, coasters and ferries share — so in-water work is planned around the berth schedule or taken at anchor in the bay.

Where we work: Commercial pier · Fuel discharge berth · Anchorage in Palmeira bay
Vessels we see here: Product tankers delivering fuel · Container and RoRo coasters · Inter-island ferries · Fishing vessels

Hull Cleaning scopes at Palmeira

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

Planning the window at Palmeira

The trade-wind and swell season governs the calendar at Palmeira Port, with the strongest trade winds from roughly December to May, and a short rainy season from August to October. The islands sit in open ocean, so a port's exposure depends on which side of its island it faces: the lee-side harbours stay calm while the trade wind blows, but long-period swell from North Atlantic storms reaches the north and west coasts in winter, and the late-summer tropical waves that pass through here can turn into storms. Water clarity here is good by regional standards, so the operation can be properly documented on video as it happens — an advantage that turns a cleaning job into usable condition evidence at no extra mobilisation cost.

Work is taken at the commercial pier, fuel discharge berth and anchorage in Palmeira bay, and which of those a vessel ends up at changes the dive plan more than the season does. Teams mobilise via Sal (SID), 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 Palmeira

Container tonnage on a fixed rotation shows the familiar pattern: light slime over most of the vertical sides, with the real accumulation in the flat bottom, the bilge keels and the niches where flow is slowest. Those are the areas that cost fuel and the ones a quick clean tends to skip.

Clearer water means the fouling state can be assessed properly before any tooling is selected, and the assessment can be shown to you rather than described.

How we deliver it at Palmeira

1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the coating specification and the window at Palmeira. 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
ENAPOR – Portos de Cabo Verde 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. 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 Palmeira
Divers, compressors, brush carts and cameras mobilise via Sal (SID). Where a vessel is also calling at Sal Rei, 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.

Palmeira Port at a glance

UN/LOCODE: CVPAL
Port type: State Port
Island: Sal
Country: Cape Verde
Water body: Baía da Palmeira, Atlantic Ocean
Port authority: ENAPOR – Portos de Cabo Verde
Main cargoes: Fuel imports, Containers, General cargo, Fishing catch
Crew mobilisation: Sal (SID)
Services here: Hull Cleaning

Frequently asked — Palmeira Port

Does Cleanship provide hull cleaning at Palmeira Port?

Yes. We cover the full hull cleaning scope at Palmeira Port (CVPAL), Sal — underwater hull cleaning, propeller polishing, thruster cleaning & polishing, in-water class survey and UWILD. Teams mobilise via Sal (SID).

What is underwater visibility like at Palmeira?

Visibility at Palmeira Port is excellent: Sal has no rivers and almost no rain, so nothing clouds the water in the bay, and the trade-wind and swell season 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 Palmeira?

ENAPOR – Portos de Cabo Verde issues the port-side approval at Palmeira 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 Palmeira?

Product tankers delivering fuel, Container and RoRo coasters, Inter-island ferries, Fishing vessels — Palmeira Port is Sal's fuel import port in some of the clearest water on our list, handling fuel imports, containers, general cargo and fishing catch. 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 Palmeira?

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 Palmeira?

Yes. Sal Rei, Mindelo and Praia 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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