Al Madinah Province · SAYBI

Hull Cleaning at Yanbu Port

In-water hull, propeller and survey work at Yanbu Port — Saudi Arabia's Red Sea crude and petrochemical export terminal.

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 Yanbu Port (SAYBI), Al Madinah 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.

King Fahd Industrial Port at Yanbu is Saudi Arabia's Red Sea crude and petrochemical export terminal, loading VLCC crude alongside refined products, LPG and sulphur. Tonnage is large and specialised and the calls are governed end to end by terminal windows.

Working conditions at Yanbu

Yanbu is a refinery and petrochemical export complex with dedicated loading berths, so the constraint is the terminal rather than the weather and the permit chain runs through the Royal Commission as well as the port. Access is controlled and the lead time is real. The Red Sea here is warm, hypersaline and clear enough for usable inspection video — unusual for an industrial port and worth taking advantage of when the berth allows.

Where we work: Crude loading berths · Product jetties · Sulphur berth
Vessels we see here: VLCC and Suezmax crude tankers · Product and chemical tankers · LPG carriers · Bulk carriers

Hull Cleaning scopes at Yanbu

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

Planning the window at Yanbu

The northerly Red Sea wind governs the calendar at Yanbu Port, strongest through the winter and spring. The Red Sea runs a persistent along-axis wind that builds a short chop at the anchorages while the berths stay workable, so the constraint here is almost always the anchorage rather than the season. 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 crude loading berths, product jetties and sulphur berth, and which of those a vessel ends up at changes the dive plan more than the season does. Teams mobilise via Yanbu (YNB) or Jeddah (JED), 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 Yanbu

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 Yanbu than owners budget for.

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 Yanbu

1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the coating specification and the window at Yanbu. 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 Yanbu Port is the terminal operator's decision as much as Mawani and the Royal Commission for Yanbu'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 Yanbu
Divers, compressors, brush carts and cameras mobilise via Yanbu (YNB) or Jeddah (JED). Where a vessel is also calling at Jeddah, 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.

Yanbu Port at a glance

UN/LOCODE: SAYBI
Port type: Private Port
State: Al Madinah Province
Country: Saudi Arabia
Water body: Red Sea
Port authority: Mawani and the Royal Commission for Yanbu
Main cargoes: Crude oil, Refined products, Petrochemicals, LPG, Sulphur
Crew mobilisation: Yanbu (YNB) / Jeddah (JED)
Services here: Hull Cleaning, Hold Cleaning and Tank Cleaning

Frequently asked — Yanbu Port

Does Cleanship provide hull cleaning at Yanbu Port?

Yes. We cover the full hull cleaning scope at Yanbu Port (SAYBI), Al Madinah Province — underwater hull cleaning, propeller polishing, thruster cleaning & polishing, in-water class survey and UWILD. Teams mobilise via Yanbu (YNB) or Jeddah (JED).

What is underwater visibility like at Yanbu?

Visibility at Yanbu Port is moderate, and it drops further around active bulk handling and after heavy rain, and the northerly Red Sea wind 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 Yanbu?

Mawani and the Royal Commission for Yanbu issues the port-side approval at Yanbu 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 Yanbu?

VLCC and Suezmax crude tankers, Product and chemical tankers, LPG carriers, Bulk carriers — Yanbu Port is Saudi Arabia's Red Sea crude and petrochemical export terminal, handling crude oil, refined products, petrochemicals, LPG and sulphur. 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 Yanbu?

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 Yanbu?

Yes. Jeddah, King Abdullah Port and Jubail 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.

Get in touch