Tanker Tank Cleaning — DPP & CPP at Visakhapatnam Port
Grade change delivered to the surveyor's standard
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Tell us the vessel, the port and the window. Scoped reply, usually the same working day.
Cleanship Marine carries out cargo tank cleaning on dirty and clean petroleum product tankers at Visakhapatnam Port, Andhra Pradesh — grade changes, wall-wash preparation and gas-freeing worked to the acceptance criteria of the next cargo, not to a generic procedure.
Visakhapatnam is the principal major port on the Andhra coast, handling iron ore, coal, crude and containers, with Hindustan Shipyard and a naval dockyard in the same waters. Cleanship keeps an operating base at Visakhapatnam, so divers, compressors and cleaning gear are held locally rather than flown in against a berth window.
What it gets you
- Tanks presented to the standard the next charterer will actually accept
- Wall-wash failures and the resulting rejection or delay avoided
- Slop disposal documented through licensed reception, not improvised
- Entry and gas-freeing certified rather than assumed
Working conditions at Visakhapatnam
Work here runs both alongside and at anchorage depending on the call, and on the passage out where neither gives enough time. The north-east monsoon sets the outer limits of the calendar, roughly October to December, and it affects the anchorage far more than the berth. Approval runs through Visakhapatnam Port 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
- Inner harbour berths · Outer harbour · Anchorage
- Vessels we see here
- Capesize and Panamax bulk carriers · Crude and product tankers · Container ships · Offshore and naval auxiliary craft
What we do at Visakhapatnam
- Cleaning plan built from the prior-cargo and next-cargo pair, with the acceptance criteria agreed in writing first
- Tank washing, steaming and chemical treatment as the grade change requires
- Gas-freeing, atmosphere testing and enclosed-space entry certification before any entry
- Hand mopping, wall wash and final presentation for surveyor inspection
- Slops and residues transferred to licensed reception at Visakhapatnam with documentation
- Tank-by-tank record and a completion report for the vessel and the charterer
Planning the window at Visakhapatnam
The north-east monsoon governs the calendar at Visakhapatnam Port, roughly October to December. The Bay of Bengal also carries cyclone risk in April to June and again from October to December, so an anchorage attendance on this coast is planned with a standby allowance rather than a single fixed date. 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.
Cleanship holds an operating base at Visakhapatnam, so we can hold a team ready against a shifting ETA rather than committing travel to a date that may move.
What we typically find at Visakhapatnam
Crude and product parcels move through Visakhapatnam alongside the dry bulk, and the operating base means tank cleaning crews, pumps and slop handling are arranged locally rather than mobilised against a berth window.
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.
Standard scope of work
Included as standard on every tanker tank cleaning attendance, wherever the vessel is. Anything outside it is quoted separately and flagged before mobilisation, never added afterwards.
- Pre-clean assessment
- Cargo history, tank coating condition, heating coil status and the next cargo specification are reviewed to fix the cleaning method and realistic acceptance criteria.
- Machine washing
- Fixed and portable tank cleaning machines run to a calculated cycle programme, using hot or cold sea water, fresh water and approved chemicals as the cargo pair requires.
- Hand hosing and manual finishing
- Bellmouths, suction wells, framing, heating coils and structural shadows are hand-hosed and manually finished — the areas machines geometrically cannot reach.
- Draining, mopping and drying
- Tanks are stripped, mopped and dried so no free water or residue remains to contaminate the next grade or skew the wall wash result.
- Gas-freeing and verification
- Ventilation to safe-for-entry or gas-free-for-hot-work condition, with continuous monitoring and independent certification arranged where required.
How we deliver it at Visakhapatnam
- 1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the prior and next grade and the window at Visakhapatnam. 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
Terminal and port approval for tank work is obtained from Visakhapatnam Port Authority and the terminal operator, licensed slop and sludge reception is booked, and marine chemist attendance is arranged where the grade change requires it. At Visakhapatnam the disposal route is the item that most often sets the schedule, so it is fixed first.
- 3
Mobilisation to Visakhapatnam
Cleanship holds an operating base at Visakhapatnam, so crews, pumps, machines and chemicals are on the ground rather than in transit. That is the difference between meeting a window and missing it.
- 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 tanker 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.
Visakhapatnam Port at a glance
- UN/LOCODE
- INVTZ
- Port type
- Major Port
- State
- Andhra Pradesh
- Country
- India
- Water body
- Bay of Bengal
- Port authority
- Visakhapatnam Port Authority
- Main cargoes
- Iron ore and pellets, Coking and thermal coal, Crude and POL, Containers, Fertiliser, Alumina
- Crew mobilisation
- Visakhapatnam (VTZ)
- Services here
- Hull Cleaning, Hold Cleaning and Tank Cleaning
Frequently asked — Tanker Tank Cleaning at Visakhapatnam
Do you provide tanker tank cleaning at Visakhapatnam Port?
Yes. Cleanship Marine works Visakhapatnam Port (INVTZ) in Andhra Pradesh, India, covering the inner harbour berths, outer harbour and anchorage. We hold an operating base at Visakhapatnam, so people and equipment are held locally rather than mobilised against a window.
Can tanker tank cleaning be done while the vessel works cargo at Visakhapatnam?
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 Visakhapatnam and tell you honestly whether the window you have is enough.
How is slop and sludge disposal handled at Visakhapatnam?
Through licensed reception, booked with Visakhapatnam Port Authority and the terminal operator before the tanks are opened. At Visakhapatnam 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 Visakhapatnam — 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.
Which vessels do you carry out tanker tank cleaning on at Visakhapatnam?
Capesize and Panamax bulk carriers, Crude and product tankers, Container ships, Offshore and naval auxiliary craft — the traffic at Visakhapatnam Port runs to iron ore and pellets, coking and thermal coal, crude and pol, 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 Visakhapatnam?
Cleanship keeps an operating base at Visakhapatnam, so response here is fast — the constraint is normally the approvals and the working window rather than getting crews and equipment to the port.
What does tanker tank cleaning at Visakhapatnam 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 Visakhapatnam. 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 Visakhapatnam and you get a scoped price, usually the same working day.
Tanker Tank Cleaning — DPP & CPP at Visakhapatnam Port.
Tell us the vessel, her ETA at Visakhapatnam and the window. You get a scope, a crew size and an honest duration — usually the same working day.