Shore Tank Cleaning at Kandla Port
Terminal tanks returned to service, safely certified
Get a quote
Tell us the vessel, the port and the window. Scoped reply, usually the same working day.
Cleanship Marine cleans shore storage tanks at the terminals serving Kandla Port, Gujarat — product changeovers, inspection preparation and statutory maintenance, delivered under a full enclosed-space and hot-work regime.
A shore tank out of service is storage capacity earning nothing, so the schedule matters as much as the standard. Kandla, officially Deendayal Port, is among the highest-tonnage ports in India and the principal liquid and dry bulk gateway for the north and west of the country. Tankers on edible oil and POL parcels and bulk carriers on fertiliser and grain make up most of the traffic. Cleanship keeps an operating base at Kandla, so divers, compressors and cleaning gear are held locally rather than flown in against a berth window. Work is planned with the terminal's own permit system and safety case, and the certification chain — gas-free, entry, hot work where needed — is treated as the critical path it actually is.
What it gets you
- Tank returned to service on a schedule the terminal can plan around
- Inspection or recoating preparation done to a standard the inspector accepts
- Waste and sludge disposal fully documented
- Work carried out under the terminal's permit system, not alongside it
Working conditions at Kandla
Work here runs both alongside and at anchorage depending on the call, and on the passage out where neither gives enough time. The south-west monsoon sets the outer limits of the calendar, roughly June to September, and it affects the anchorage far more than the berth. Approval runs through Deendayal Port Authority and the terminal operator, and licensed slop reception is booked before the tanks are opened — at most ports on this list that booking, not the cleaning, is what sets the date.
- Where we work
- Kandla creek berths · Oil jetties · Outer anchorage
- Vessels we see here
- Product and chemical tankers · Bulk carriers · General cargo ships
What we do at Kandla
- Method statement and risk assessment agreed with the terminal before mobilisation
- Draining, purging, gas-freeing and atmosphere monitoring throughout
- Sludge and residue removal, floor and shell cleaning, roof and internal structure
- Preparation for internal inspection, thickness measurement or recoating
- Waste transferred to licensed disposal under the rules in force at Kandla
- Certification and completion documentation for the terminal's records
Planning the window at Kandla
The south-west monsoon governs the calendar at Kandla 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. Whether the work runs alongside, at anchorage or on passage depends on the terminal and the grade, so the plan is built against the actual call. Where a terminal will not permit tank work at the berth, we say so at quoting stage rather than after mobilisation.
Cleanship holds an operating base at Kandla, so we can hold a team ready against a shifting ETA rather than committing travel to a date that may move.
What we typically find at Kandla
Kandla is India’s principal edible oil terminal, so prior-cargo restrictions and wall-wash results drive the tank cleaning specification far more than the visual standard does. Slop handling and disposal are arranged with the terminal ahead of the call rather than negotiated once the tanks are open.
Edible oil parcels move through Kandla Port, and those are the strictest specifications in the trade. Prior-cargo restrictions and wall-wash results set the standard, not the visual condition, and a tank that looks clean can still fail on analysis.
Standard scope of work
Included as standard on every shore tank cleaning attendance, wherever the vessel is. Anything outside it is quoted separately and flagged before mobilisation, never added afterwards.
- Product and residue removal
- Remaining product is stripped and transferred, and pumpable sludge is recovered to nominated tankage or road tankers.
- Sludge treatment and oil recovery
- Where volumes justify it, sludge is treated to recover saleable hydrocarbon and reduce the mass sent to disposal.
- Washing and degreasing
- Shell, floor, roof structure and internal fittings are washed and degreased to the standard required by the next activity.
- Gas-freeing and monitoring
- Forced ventilation to safe-for-entry or gas-free-for-hot-work condition, with continuous atmospheric monitoring throughout occupancy.
- Inspection preparation
- Floor plates, annular rings, weld seams and roof supports are cleaned to a condition that allows meaningful thickness measurement and visual inspection.
How we deliver it at Kandla
- 1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the prior and next grade and the window at Kandla. 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
Approvals, slops and certification
Terminal and port approval for tank work is obtained from Deendayal Port Authority and the terminal operator, licensed slop and sludge reception is booked, and marine chemist attendance is arranged where the grade change requires it. At Kandla the disposal route is the item that most often sets the schedule, so it is fixed first.
- 3
Mobilisation to Kandla
Cleanship holds an operating base at Kandla, so crews, pumps, machines and chemicals are on the ground rather than in transit. That is the difference between meeting a window and missing it.
- 4
Gas-freeing, entry and cleaning
Atmosphere testing, gas-freeing and enclosed-space entry certification come before any entry, and are repeated after every break. Standby cover and atmosphere monitoring run continuously while anyone is inside, and progress is reported tank by tank.
- 5
Report and handover
A completion report covering shore tank cleaning is issued with before-and-after imagery, tank by tank and anything found that you should know about. The findings are discussed with the vessel rather than emailed and forgotten.
Kandla Port at a glance
- UN/LOCODE
- INIXY
- Port type
- Major Port
- State
- Gujarat
- Country
- India
- Water body
- Gulf of Kutch
- Port authority
- Deendayal Port Authority
- Main cargoes
- POL and edible oils, Fertiliser and raw materials, Grain, Salt, Timber, Containers
- Crew mobilisation
- Kandla (IXY) / Bhuj (BHJ)
- Services here
- Hull Cleaning, Hold Cleaning and Tank Cleaning
Frequently asked — Shore Tank Cleaning at Kandla
Do you provide shore tank cleaning at Kandla Port?
Yes. Cleanship Marine works Kandla Port (INIXY) in Gujarat, India, covering the Kandla creek berths, oil jetties and outer anchorage. We hold an operating base at Kandla, so people and equipment are held locally rather than mobilised against a window.
Can shore tank cleaning be done while the vessel works cargo at Kandla?
It depends on the terminal and the grade. Some berths here permit tank work alongside and some do not; we establish which before the vessel arrives and plan for the anchorage or the passage where the answer is no. The vessel stays on hire throughout, and there is no diversion and no dry dock. We scope against the conditions at Kandla and tell you honestly whether the window you have is enough.
How is slop and sludge disposal handled at Kandla?
Through licensed reception, booked with Deendayal Port Authority and the terminal operator before the tanks are opened. At Kandla the disposal route is usually what sets the schedule, so it is fixed first and documented tank by tank. Gas-freeing, atmosphere testing and enclosed-space entry certification are part of the same scope.
Where is the work done at Kandla — alongside, at anchorage or on passage?
Work here runs both alongside and at anchorage depending on the call, and on the passage out where neither gives enough time.
Which vessels do you carry out shore tank cleaning on at Kandla?
Product and chemical tankers, Bulk carriers, General cargo ships — the traffic at Kandla Port runs to pol and edible oils, fertiliser and raw materials, grain, so those are the profiles we see most. The scope is sized to the vessel, not to a standard package.
How quickly can a team mobilise to Kandla?
Cleanship keeps an operating base at Kandla, so response here is fast — the constraint is normally the approvals and the working window rather than getting crews and equipment to the port.
What does shore tank cleaning at Kandla cost?
It depends on the tank count and volume, the prior and next grade, how much sludge is in there and whether the work runs alongside, at anchorage or on passage from Kandla. We would rather scope it properly and give you a specific figure than quote a headline rate that changes once the work starts. Send the details and the window at Kandla and you get a scoped price, usually the same working day.
Shore Tank Cleaning at Kandla Port.
Tell us the vessel, her ETA at Kandla and the window. You get a scope, a crew size and an honest duration — usually the same working day.