Tanker Tank Cleaning — DPP & CPP at Yanbu Port
Grade change delivered to the surveyor's standard
Get a quote
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 Yanbu Port, Al Madinah Province — grade changes, wall-wash preparation and gas-freeing worked to the acceptance criteria of the next cargo, not to a generic procedure.
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.
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 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
- 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 Yanbu with documentation
- Tank-by-tank record and a completion report for the vessel and the charterer
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 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 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 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.
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 — Tanker Tank Cleaning at Yanbu
Do you provide tanker 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 tanker 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 tanker 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 tanker 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.
Tanker Tank Cleaning — DPP & CPP 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.