North Western Province · LKPTL

Hull Cleaning at Puttalam Port

In-water hull, propeller and survey work at Puttalam Port — a shallow cement lagoon on the north-west coast.

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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 Puttalam Port (LKPTL), North Western Province — 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.

Puttalam is Sri Lanka's cement and limestone port, working clinker, coal and salt through a jetty and a lightering anchorage on the north-west coast. Traffic is smaller bulk tonnage and barges on short regional voyages.

Working conditions at Puttalam

Puttalam is a shallow lagoon port serving the cement industry, so depth restricts what can come alongside and larger tonnage is lightened at anchor. Lagoon water is warm, brackish and silty with low visibility, and cement and limestone dust in the water column reduces it further around active loading. The south-west monsoon is the limiting season.

Where we work: Cement jetty · Lagoon anchorage · Lightering position
Vessels we see here: Handysize bulk carriers · Barges and coastal craft

Hull Cleaning scopes at Puttalam

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

Planning the window at Puttalam

The two monsoons governs the calendar at Puttalam Port, the south-west from May to September and the north-east from December to February. Which one matters depends on which coast the port is on — the south-west monsoon closes the western and southern anchorages while the east coast stays workable, and the north-east monsoon reverses it. Sri Lanka is the one market on the coverage list where there is almost always a workable coast. 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 cement jetty, lagoon anchorage and lightering position, and which of those a vessel ends up at changes the dive plan more than the season does. Teams mobilise via Colombo (CMB), 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 Puttalam

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 Puttalam 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 Puttalam

1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the coating specification and the window at Puttalam. 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
Sri Lanka Ports 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. 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 Puttalam
Divers, compressors, brush carts and cameras mobilise via Colombo (CMB). Where a vessel is also calling at Colombo, 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.

Puttalam Port at a glance

UN/LOCODE: LKPTL
Port type: State Port
State: North Western Province
Country: Sri Lanka
Water body: Puttalam Lagoon
Port authority: Sri Lanka Ports Authority
Main cargoes: Cement and clinker, Limestone, Coal, Salt, General cargo
Crew mobilisation: Colombo (CMB)
Services here: Hull Cleaning and Hold Cleaning

Frequently asked — Puttalam Port

Does Cleanship provide hull cleaning at Puttalam Port?

Yes. We cover the full hull cleaning scope at Puttalam Port (LKPTL), North Western Province — underwater hull cleaning, propeller polishing, thruster cleaning & polishing, in-water class survey and UWILD. Teams mobilise via Colombo (CMB).

What is underwater visibility like at Puttalam?

Visibility at Puttalam Port is habitually very low, and often close to nil at the turn, and the two monsoons 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 Puttalam?

Sri Lanka Ports Authority issues the port-side approval at Puttalam 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 Puttalam?

Handysize bulk carriers, Barges and coastal craft — Puttalam Port is a shallow cement lagoon on the north-west coast, handling cement and clinker, limestone, coal, salt, general cargo. 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 Puttalam?

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 Puttalam?

Yes. Colombo, Trincomalee and Galle 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 65 ports on the coverage list for this line.

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