Eastern Province · SAJBI

Tank Cleaning at Jubail Port

Grade changes, sludge removal and shore tanks at Jubail Port — the loading port for the region's largest petrochemical complex.

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

Cleanship Marine cleans cargo, bunker and shore tanks at Jubail Port (SAJBI), Eastern Province — grade changes on product and chemical tankers, sludge demucking, terminal storage tanks and offshore support vessel turnarounds. Jubail loads chemical and polymer grades to strict specification, so the cleaning plan is built from the prior-cargo and next-cargo pair and the charterer's acceptance criteria, not from a standard procedure. Gas-freeing, marine chemist attendance and enclosed-space entry certification are the critical path, and terminal approval for any work alongside has to be in hand before arrival.

Working conditions at Jubail

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 shamal sets the outer limits of the calendar, through the winter months and again in early summer, and it affects the anchorage far more than the berth. The larger constraint here is heat. Between June and September, working temperatures inside a cargo hold or a tank at this port routinely exceed anything a full shift can be worked in, so enclosed-space work runs to shortened cycles with enforced rest, forced ventilation and more people than the same job needs in winter. Pricing a Gulf summer tank entry on a winter productivity assumption is the most common way these jobs overrun. Approval runs through Mawani and the Royal Commission for Jubail 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: Chemical and liquid berths · General cargo quays · Outer anchorage
Vessels we see here: Chemical and product tankers · LPG carriers · Bulk carriers · General cargo and project vessels

Tank Cleaning scopes at Jubail

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

Planning the window at Jubail

The shamal governs the calendar at Jubail Port, through the winter months and again in early summer. 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 Dammam (DMM), 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 Jubail

Chemical and petrochemical grades move through here, so the cleaning specification changes with almost every voyage and is set by the next charterer's acceptance criteria. The wash plan is built from the prior-cargo and next-cargo pair, not from a standard procedure.

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.

How we deliver it at Jubail

1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the prior and next grade and the window at Jubail. 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
Mawani and the Royal Commission for Jubail runs a statutory permit process here, so the lead time is real and the application goes in early rather than on arrival. Licensed slop and sludge reception is booked and marine chemist attendance arranged where the grade change requires it. At Jubail the disposal route is the item that most often sets the schedule, so it is fixed first.
3
Mobilisation to Jubail
Crews, pumps, machines and chemicals mobilise via Dammam (DMM). Where a vessel is also calling at Dammam, 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 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.

Jubail Port at a glance

UN/LOCODE: SAJBI
Port type: Major Port
State: Eastern Province
Country: Saudi Arabia
Water body: Arabian Gulf
Port authority: Mawani and the Royal Commission for Jubail
Main cargoes: Petrochemicals, Liquid chemicals, Sulphur, Containers, Project cargo and steel
Crew mobilisation: Dammam (DMM)
Services here: Hull Cleaning, Hold Cleaning and Tank Cleaning

Frequently asked — Jubail Port

Does Cleanship provide tank cleaning at Jubail Port?

Yes. We cover the full tank cleaning scope at Jubail Port (SAJBI), Eastern Province — tanker tank cleaning — DPP & CPP, tank demucking, shore tank cleaning and offshore vessel tank cleaning. Teams mobilise via Dammam (DMM).

Where is the work done at Jubail — 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.

Who approves tank cleaning work at Jubail?

Mawani and the Royal Commission for Jubail issues the port-side approval at Jubail Port, with terminal approval on top where the berth requires it. We arrange both, along with the waste reception and disposal route, so it does not fall to the agent or the master.

Which vessels call at Jubail?

Chemical and product tankers, LPG carriers, Bulk carriers, General cargo and project vessels — Jubail Port is the loading port for the region's largest petrochemical complex, handling petrochemicals, liquid chemicals, sulphur, containers, project cargo and steel. What sizes a tank job is the tank count, the prior and next grade and how much sludge is carried, not the vessel's dimensions.

Can this be done without taking the vessel off hire at Jubail?

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. Tank work runs alongside where the terminal permits it, and otherwise at anchorage or on the passage out — none of which takes the vessel off hire.

Do you cover other ports near Jubail?

Yes. Yanbu all sit within the same operating range for tank cleaning, and a single mobilisation is often sized to cover more than one vessel on the same trip. We work 32 ports on the coverage list for this line.

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