Shore Tank Cleaning at Lomé Port
Terminal tanks returned to service, safely certified
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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 Lomé Port, Maritime Region — 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. Lomé is the transhipment and bunkering hub of West Africa, the region's only naturally deep-water port and the reason main-line container tonnage calls this coast at all. The standing anchorage population makes it the West African equivalent of Fujairah: idle tonnage, in warm water, for days at a time. 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 Lomé
Work here runs both alongside and at anchorage depending on the call, and on the passage out where neither gives enough time. The Atlantic swell and the rains sets the outer limits of the calendar, with the heaviest rain from May to October and swell running year-round, and it affects the anchorage far more than the berth. Humidity is high year-round and the rains make it worse, which matters more than temperature for enclosed-space work: holds will not dry, and a hold that cannot be dried cannot be closed. Approval runs through Port Autonome de Lomé 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
- Container terminal berths · Bunkering anchorage · General cargo and bulk berths
- Vessels we see here
- Main-line and feeder container ships · Bunker tankers and barges · Handysize bulk carriers · General cargo ships
What we do at Lomé
- 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 Lomé
- Certification and completion documentation for the terminal's records
Planning the window at Lomé
The Atlantic swell and the rains governs the calendar at Lomé Port, with the heaviest rain from May to October and swell running year-round. For tank work it is the anchorage that suffers — where the terminal will not permit work alongside, weather that closes the anchorage closes the job. 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.
Teams mobilise via Lomé (LFW), 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 Lomé
Product parcels and bunkers dominate the liquid traffic here, so most of the work is grade changes and fuel and slop tank cleaning rather than full chemical specification work.
What we find depends on whether the vessel has had time at anchorage or come straight off a berth, so the tank condition is confirmed on inspection rather than assumed from the previous cargo alone.
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 Lomé
- 1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the prior and next grade and the window at Lomé. 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
Port Autonome de Lomé 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. Licensed slop and sludge reception is booked and marine chemist attendance arranged where the grade change requires it. At Lomé the disposal route is the item that most often sets the schedule, so it is fixed first.
- 3
Mobilisation to Lomé
Crews, pumps, machines and chemicals mobilise via Lomé (LFW). Where a vessel is also calling at Kpémé, one mobilisation is normally sized to cover both.
- 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.
Lomé Port at a glance
- UN/LOCODE
- TGLFW
- Port type
- State Port
- State
- Maritime Region
- Country
- Togo
- Water body
- Gulf of Guinea
- Port authority
- Port Autonome de Lomé
- Main cargoes
- Containers and transhipment, Bunkers, Clinker and cement, General cargo, Cotton and agricultural bulk
- Crew mobilisation
- Lomé (LFW)
- Services here
- Hull Cleaning, Hold Cleaning and Tank Cleaning
Frequently asked — Shore Tank Cleaning at Lomé
Do you provide shore tank cleaning at Lomé Port?
Yes. Cleanship Marine works Lomé Port (TGLFW) in Maritime Region, Togo, covering the container terminal berths, bunkering anchorage, general cargo and bulk berths. Teams mobilise via Lomé (LFW) with the full spread.
Can shore tank cleaning be done while the vessel works cargo at Lomé?
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 Lomé and tell you honestly whether the window you have is enough.
How is slop and sludge disposal handled at Lomé?
Through licensed reception, booked with Port Autonome de Lomé and the terminal operator before the tanks are opened. At Lomé 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 Lomé — 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. Between June and September the binding constraint is working temperature inside the space rather than access to it.
Which vessels do you carry out shore tank cleaning on at Lomé?
Main-line and feeder container ships, Bunker tankers and barges, Handysize bulk carriers, General cargo ships — the traffic at Lomé Port runs to containers and transhipment, bunkers, clinker and cement, 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 Lomé?
Crews and equipment mobilise via Lomé (LFW). Give us the ETA and the window and we will confirm what is achievable rather than promise a date we cannot hold. Where the vessel also calls at Tema, one mobilisation is often sized to cover both.
What does shore tank cleaning at Lomé 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 Lomé. 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 Lomé and you get a scoped price, usually the same working day.
Shore Tank Cleaning at Lomé Port.
Tell us the vessel, her ETA at Lomé and the window. You get a scope, a crew size and an honest duration — usually the same working day.