Abidjan · CIPBT

Hull Cleaning at Vridi Oil Terminals

In-water hull, propeller and survey work at Vridi Oil Terminals — Abidjan's oil terminals along the Vridi Canal.

Get a quote

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

Cleanship Marine provides the full underwater scope at Vridi Oil Terminals (CIPBT), 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.

Vridi, in the commune of Port-Bouët, is where Abidjan handles oil. Five oil terminals line the Vridi Canal — including the Petroci and SIAP tanker berths — alongside the SIR refinery and the Abidjan–Vridi Petroleum Terminal, a GESTOCI depot commissioned in 1983 with 324,400 cubic metres of storage and one of the largest in West Africa. The traffic is product, bitumen and LPG tankers supplying Côte d'Ivoire and its landlocked neighbours.

Working conditions at Vridi

The Vridi Canal is a straight cut 2.7 kilometres long, 370 metres wide and about 13.5 metres deep, opened in 1950 to join the sea to the Ébrié Lagoon, and the oil terminals line its banks. That puts the tanker berths in a narrow, busy channel with a current running through it as the lagoon exchanges water with the sea, rather than in a quiet basin. In-water work at these berths is therefore timed around the current and the canal traffic, and always agreed with the terminal, because every one of them is a hazardous-cargo berth.

Where we work: Oil berths along the Vridi Canal · Petroci and SIAP tanker berths · Anchorage off the canal entrance
Vessels we see here: Product tankers · Bitumen tankers · LPG carriers · Bunker barges

Hull Cleaning scopes at Vridi

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

Planning the window at Vridi

The combination of Atlantic swell and rain governs the calendar at Vridi Oil Terminals, 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. Because the harbour is sheltered, work here normally runs alongside or at a protected anchorage and can proceed in parallel with cargo operations rather than competing with them for the berth window.

Work is taken at the oil berths along the Vridi Canal, Petroci and SIAP tanker berths, anchorage off the canal entrance, 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 Vridi

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.

Shelter is a mixed blessing for a hull. The same calm that makes the port easy to work in is still water, and still water grows fouling faster than an exposed berth does.

How we deliver it at Vridi

1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the coating specification and the window at Vridi. 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
Port Autonome d'Abidjan 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 Vridi
Divers, compressors, brush carts and cameras mobilise via Abidjan (ABJ). Where a vessel is also calling at Lion, 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.

Vridi Oil Terminals at a glance

UN/LOCODE: CIPBT
Port type: State Port
State: Abidjan
Country: Côte d'Ivoire
Water body: Vridi Canal and the Ébrié Lagoon
Port authority: Port Autonome d'Abidjan
Main cargoes: Crude oil and refined products, Bitumen, LPG
Crew mobilisation: Abidjan (ABJ)
Services here: Hull Cleaning

Frequently asked — Vridi Oil Terminals

Does Cleanship provide hull cleaning at Vridi Oil Terminals?

Yes. We cover the full hull cleaning scope at Vridi Oil Terminals (CIPBT), 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 Vridi?

Visibility at Vridi Oil Terminals is low to moderate — the canal carries lagoon water out to sea and sea water in, and the brackish, sediment-laden lagoon side is much cloudier than the open sea outside, 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 Vridi?

Port Autonome d'Abidjan issues the port-side approval at Vridi Oil Terminals, 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 Vridi?

Product tankers, Bitumen tankers, LPG carriers and Bunker barges — Vridi Oil Terminals is Abidjan's oil terminals along the Vridi Canal, handling crude oil and refined products, bitumen, LPG. 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 Vridi?

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 Vridi?

Yes. Lion, 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.

Get in touch