Shore Tank Cleaning at Yanbu 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 Yanbu Port, Al Madinah Province — 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. 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. 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 Yanbu
Work here starts alongside, and where the berth window runs out it continues on the outward passage with a riding crew — the berth will not be held open for it. The northerly Red Sea wind sets the outer limits of the calendar, strongest through the winter and spring, and it affects the anchorage far more than the berth. Heat and humidity are the harder constraint. The Red Sea is among the warmest and most saline bodies of water the fleet trades in — which grows fouling faster than the Gulf does — and between June and September enclosed-space work runs to shortened cycles with enforced rest and forced ventilation. Approval runs through Mawani and the Royal Commission for Yanbu 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
- Crude loading berths · Product jetties · Sulphur berth
- Vessels we see here
- VLCC and Suezmax crude tankers · Product and chemical tankers · LPG carriers · Bulk carriers
What we do at Yanbu
- 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 Yanbu
- Certification and completion documentation for the terminal's records
Planning the window at Yanbu
The northerly Red Sea wind governs the calendar at Yanbu Port, strongest through the winter and spring. 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. Terminal windows here are tight and most operators will not permit tank work alongside, so the realistic plan is the anchorage or the outward passage. That is agreed before the vessel arrives, not argued at the berth.
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
Gas and specialised liquid tonnage calls here, which puts the certification chain ahead of the cleaning itself: gas-freeing, marine chemist attendance and enclosed-space entry certificates are the critical path, and the physical work is the short part of the job.
Tanks here are usually presented with a machine wash already done and the hand work outstanding — bottom structure, suction wells, heating coils and the areas the machines cannot reach. That remainder is what a wall wash actually fails on.
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 Yanbu
- 1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the prior and next grade 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
Approvals, slops and certification
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. Licensed slop and sludge reception is booked and marine chemist attendance arranged where the grade change requires it. At Yanbu the disposal route is the item that most often sets the schedule, so it is fixed first.
- 3
Mobilisation to Yanbu
Crews, pumps, machines and chemicals mobilise via Yanbu (YNB) or Jeddah (JED). Where a vessel is also calling at Jeddah, 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.
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 — Shore Tank Cleaning at Yanbu
Do you provide shore tank cleaning at Yanbu Port?
Yes. Cleanship Marine works Yanbu Port (SAYBI) in Al Madinah Province, Saudi Arabia, covering the crude loading berths, product jetties and sulphur berth. Teams mobilise via Yanbu (YNB) or Jeddah (JED) with the full spread.
Can shore tank cleaning be done while the vessel works cargo at Yanbu?
Most terminals here will not permit tank work alongside, so the plan is the anchorage or the outward passage. We confirm the terminal's position before quoting rather than discovering it at the gangway. The vessel stays on hire throughout, and there is no diversion and no dry dock. We scope against the conditions at Yanbu and tell you honestly whether the window you have is enough.
How is slop and sludge disposal handled at Yanbu?
Through licensed reception, booked with Mawani and the Royal Commission for Yanbu and the terminal operator before the tanks are opened. At Yanbu 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 Yanbu — alongside, at anchorage or on passage?
Work here starts alongside, and where the berth window runs out it continues on the outward passage with a riding crew — the berth will not be held open for it. 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 Yanbu?
VLCC and Suezmax crude tankers, Product and chemical tankers, LPG carriers, Bulk carriers — the traffic at Yanbu Port runs to crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals, 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 Yanbu?
Crews and equipment mobilise via Yanbu (YNB) or Jeddah (JED). 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 Jubail, one mobilisation is often sized to cover both.
What does shore tank cleaning at Yanbu 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 Yanbu. 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 Yanbu and you get a scoped price, usually the same working day.
Shore Tank Cleaning at Yanbu Port.
Tell us the vessel, her ETA at Yanbu and the window. You get a scope, a crew size and an honest duration — usually the same working day.