Greater Accra · GHTEM

Tank Cleaning at Tema Port

Grade changes, sludge removal and shore tanks at Tema Port — Ghana's main container gateway on a tight berth clock.

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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 Tema Port (GHTEM), Greater Accra — grade changes on product and chemical tankers, sludge demucking, terminal storage tanks and offshore support vessel turnarounds. Refined product parcels move through Tema for the Ghanaian market, so tank work is grade changes plus bunker and slop cleaning. Terminal permission governs whether it can run alongside, and it usually cannot.

Working conditions at Tema

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 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 Ghana Ports and Harbours 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: Container terminal berths · Bulk and general cargo quays · Oil berth · Anchorage
Vessels we see here: Main-line and feeder container ships · Handysize bulk carriers · Product tankers · Fishing fleet and reefer vessels

Tank Cleaning scopes at Tema

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

Planning the window at Tema

The Atlantic swell and the rains governs the calendar at Tema 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. 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 Accra (ACC), 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 Tema

Crude parcels here mean sludge, not just residue. The volume that comes out of a crude tank is a disposal problem as much as a cleaning one, so slop reception and licensed disposal are arranged before the work starts rather than discovered after it.

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 Tema

1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the prior and next grade and the window at Tema. 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
Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority 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 Tema the disposal route is the item that most often sets the schedule, so it is fixed first.
3
Mobilisation to Tema
Crews, pumps, machines and chemicals mobilise via Accra (ACC). Where a vessel is also calling at Takoradi, 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.

Tema Port at a glance

UN/LOCODE: GHTEM
Port type: State Port
State: Greater Accra
Country: Ghana
Water body: Gulf of Guinea
Port authority: Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority
Main cargoes: Containers, Clinker and cement, Grain and agricultural bulk, Crude and refined products, General cargo, Fishing catch
Crew mobilisation: Accra (ACC)
Services here: Hull Cleaning, Hold Cleaning and Tank Cleaning

Frequently asked — Tema Port

Does Cleanship provide tank cleaning at Tema Port?

Yes. We cover the full tank cleaning scope at Tema Port (GHTEM), Greater Accra — tanker tank cleaning — DPP & CPP, tank demucking, shore tank cleaning and offshore vessel tank cleaning. Teams mobilise via Accra (ACC).

Where is the work done at Tema — 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 Tema?

Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority issues the port-side approval at Tema 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 Tema?

Main-line and feeder container ships, Handysize bulk carriers, Product tankers, Fishing fleet and reefer vessels — Tema Port is Ghana's main container gateway on a tight berth clock, handling containers, clinker and cement, grain and agricultural bulk, crude and refined products, general cargo, fishing catch. 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 Tema?

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 Tema?

Yes. Lomé 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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