Underwater Hull Cleaning at Kpémé Port
Full hull cleaned in the water, vessel stays on hire
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Tell us the vessel, the port and the window. Scoped reply, usually the same working day.
Cleanship Marine provides underwater hull cleaning at Kpémé Port, Maritime Region, working the offshore loading jetty and outer anchorage. Commercial dive teams remove slime, weed and shell growth from the vertical sides, flat bottom, bilge keels, sea chests and niche areas with the vessel afloat and on hire — no dry dock, no diversion, no off-hire.
Kpémé is a single-commodity phosphate export terminal on the Togolese coast, loading rock over an offshore jetty for the fertiliser trade. Traffic is bulk carriers on repeat voyages, and the exposure means most attendances here are combined with a call at Lomé a short distance along the coast.
What it gets you
- Hydrodynamic smoothness restored before fouling reaches the calcareous stage that damages coating
- Fuel and emissions penalty from drag reduced without taking the vessel off hire
- Documented condition record for the technical file and the next docking specification
- Sea chests and inlets cleared, protecting cooling water flow
Working conditions at Kpémé
Kpémé loads over an offshore jetty with no enclosed basin, so there is no shelter at all and the Atlantic swell decides whether work happens. Vessels lie exposed for the whole loading operation, which makes this one of the more demanding in-water working environments on the coverage list and one where the window has to be taken when it appears rather than booked. Water is warm and reasonably clear away from the loading point.
- Where we work
- Offshore loading jetty · Outer anchorage
- Vessels we see here
- Handysize and Supramax bulk carriers · Support and mooring craft
What we do at Kpémé
- Pre-clean fouling survey to establish coverage, growth type and coating condition before any tool touches the hull
- Brush cart cleaning of the flat bottom and vertical sides, with brush hardness selected against your antifouling specification
- Hand cleaning of bilge keels, rudder, stern frame, thruster tunnels, anodes and the niches a cart cannot follow
- Sea chest gratings and inlet openings cleared of growth and debris to restore cooling water flow
- Diving permission cleared with Société Nouvelle des Phosphates du Togo and the terminal before mobilisation
- Before-and-after video and stills, with a written report on coating condition and anode wastage
Planning the window at Kpémé
The Atlantic swell and the rains governs the calendar at Kpémé Port, with the heaviest rain from May to October and swell running year-round. The swell here is long-period Atlantic ground swell rather than wind-driven sea, so it reaches the anchorages on days that look calm from the bridge and it is the single biggest cause of a lost in-water window on this coast. Work here is done with the vessel riding to her anchor, so the dive plan is built around sea state and swell rather than a berth slot, and the team stands by for a workable window rather than a scheduled one.
Work is taken at the offshore loading jetty and outer anchorage, and which of those a vessel ends up at changes the dive plan more than the season does. Teams mobilise via Lomé (LFW), 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 Kpémé
The working fleet here spends most of its life at low speed in warm water, so growth is heavy, mixed and reaches the hard calcareous stage sooner than on deep-sea tonnage. Left too long it starts damaging the coating rather than just slowing the vessel.
Vessels here sit at anchor for long periods, and a stationary hull in warm water is the ideal fouling substrate. The heaviest growth we lift at this port is almost always off a vessel that has been waiting rather than working.
Standard scope of work
Included as standard on every underwater hull cleaning attendance, wherever the vessel is. Anything outside it is quoted separately and flagged before mobilisation, never added afterwards.
- Fouling survey
- A pre-clean dive establishes fouling type, coverage and severity, and confirms coating condition so the correct tooling is selected.
- Flat bottom and vertical sides
- Brush cart cleaning of large areas, removing slime, weed and shell growth to restore surface smoothness.
- Niche areas
- Hand cleaning of bilge keels, bow thruster tunnels, rudder, stern frame, anodes and other niche areas where fouling concentrates.
- Sea chests and gratings
- Sea chest gratings and inlet openings cleared of growth and debris to restore cooling water flow.
- Documentation
- Underwater video and stills before and after, with a written report covering coating condition and anode wastage.
How we deliver it at Kpémé
- 1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the coating specification and the window at Kpémé. 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
Permits and approvals
Access at Kpémé Port is the terminal operator's decision as much as Société Nouvelle des Phosphates du Togo's, so both are in the approval chain from the start — a berth-side refusal discovered at the gangway costs the whole attendance. Diving permission, terminal approval and any environmental clearance for in-water work are handled by us, not left with the agent to chase.
- 3
Mobilisation to Kpémé
Divers, compressors, brush carts and cameras mobilise via Lomé (LFW). Where a vessel is also calling at Lomé, one mobilisation is normally sized to cover both.
- 4
Safety setup and the dive
The vessel is secured for diving — main engine, shaft and thrusters immobilised, sea suctions confirmed shut, permit agreed with the master. Teams work under surface supervision with continuous diver communications and video throughout.
- 5
Report and handover
A completion report covering underwater hull cleaning is issued with before-and-after imagery, coating and anode condition and anything found that you should know about. The findings are discussed with the vessel rather than emailed and forgotten.
Kpémé Port at a glance
- UN/LOCODE
- TGKPE
- Port type
- Private Port
- State
- Maritime Region
- Country
- Togo
- Water body
- Gulf of Guinea
- Port authority
- Société Nouvelle des Phosphates du Togo
- Main cargoes
- Phosphate rock
- Crew mobilisation
- Lomé (LFW)
- Services here
- Hull Cleaning
Frequently asked — Underwater Hull Cleaning at Kpémé
Do you provide underwater hull cleaning at Kpémé Port?
Yes. Cleanship Marine works Kpémé Port (TGKPE) in Maritime Region, Togo, covering the offshore loading jetty and outer anchorage. Teams mobilise via Lomé (LFW) with the full spread.
Can underwater hull cleaning be done while the vessel works cargo at Kpémé?
Yes — it is the norm here, because the work is done at anchor rather than at a berth. Barge operations carry on around the dive, with the working side agreed with the master beforehand. The vessel stays on hire throughout, and there is no diversion and no dry dock. We scope against the conditions at Kpémé and tell you honestly whether the window you have is enough.
Do you need a diving permit from Société Nouvelle des Phosphates du Togo?
Yes, and we obtain it. Diving permission from Société Nouvelle des Phosphates du Togo, terminal approval where the berth requires it, and any environmental clearance for in-water work are arranged as part of the job rather than left with the agent. The master's permit to work and the immobilisation of machinery are agreed on board before anyone enters the water.
What is underwater visibility like at Kpémé?
Visibility at Kpémé Port is generally workable outside the monsoon, though cargo dust from lighterage reduces it sharply near an active transfer, and the Atlantic swell and the rains sets the outer limits of the calendar. How the tide and sea state shape the dive plan is set out in full in the working-conditions section on this page.
Which vessels do you carry out underwater hull cleaning on at Kpémé?
Handysize and Supramax bulk carriers, Support and mooring craft — the traffic at Kpémé Port runs to phosphate rock, 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 Kpémé?
Divers and equipment mobilise via Lomé (LFW). 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 Lomé or Cotonou, one mobilisation is often sized to cover both.
What does underwater hull cleaning at Kpémé cost?
It depends on the vessel's dimensions and wetted area, the fouling state found, the coating specification and the working window available at Kpémé. 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 Kpémé and you get a scoped price, usually the same working day.
Underwater Hull Cleaning at Kpémé Port.
Tell us the vessel, her ETA at Kpémé and the window. You get a scope, a crew size and an honest duration — usually the same working day.