Al Madinah Province · SAYBI

Tank Cleaning at Yanbu Port

Grade changes, sludge removal and shore tanks at Yanbu Port — Saudi Arabia's Red Sea crude and petrochemical export terminal.

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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 Yanbu Port (SAYBI), Al Madinah Province — grade changes on product and chemical tankers, sludge demucking, terminal storage tanks and offshore support vessel turnarounds. Yanbu loads crude and product to strict specification, so tank work is driven by the next cargo and the terminal's acceptance criteria. On the crude side the sludge volume is the governing factor and the disposal route is booked before the tanks are opened. Gas-freeing, marine chemist attendance and entry certification are part of the scope.

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

Tank Cleaning scopes at Yanbu

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

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.

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 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 — Yanbu Port

Does Cleanship provide tank cleaning at Yanbu Port?

Yes. We cover the full tank cleaning scope at Yanbu Port (SAYBI), Al Madinah Province — tanker tank cleaning — DPP & CPP, tank demucking, shore tank cleaning and offshore vessel tank cleaning. Teams mobilise via Yanbu (YNB) or Jeddah (JED).

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.

Who approves tank cleaning work at Yanbu?

Mawani and the Royal Commission for Yanbu issues the port-side approval at Yanbu 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 Yanbu?

VLCC and Suezmax crude tankers, Product and chemical tankers, LPG carriers, Bulk carriers — Yanbu Port is Saudi Arabia's Red Sea crude and petrochemical export terminal, handling crude oil, refined products, petrochemicals, LPG and sulphur. 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 Yanbu?

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 Yanbu?

Yes. Jubail 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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