Underwater Hull Cleaning at Vridi Oil Terminals
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 Vridi Oil Terminals, Abidjan, working the oil berths along the Vridi Canal, Petroci and SIAP tanker berths. 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.
Vridi, in the commune of Port-Bouët, is where Abidjan handles oil. Five oil terminals line the Vridi Canal — including the Petroci and SIAP tanker berths — alongside the SIR refinery and the Abidjan–Vridi Petroleum Terminal, a GESTOCI depot commissioned in 1983 with 324,400 cubic metres of storage and one of the largest in West Africa. The traffic is product, bitumen and LPG tankers supplying Côte d'Ivoire and its landlocked neighbours.
The tankers at Vridi lie in a canal, not a basin, and the current through the Vridi Canal changes as the lagoon exchanges water with the sea. That current — not the swell — is what governs a hull clean here. The dive is timed to the slack water, and the terminal's safety rules come first, because these are hazardous-cargo berths where no in-water work happens without the terminal's written permission.
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 Vridi
The Vridi Canal is a straight cut 2.7 kilometres long, 370 metres wide and about 13.5 metres deep, opened in 1950 to join the sea to the Ébrié Lagoon, and the oil terminals line its banks. That puts the tanker berths in a narrow, busy channel with a current running through it as the lagoon exchanges water with the sea, rather than in a quiet basin. In-water work at these berths is therefore timed around the current and the canal traffic, and always agreed with the terminal, because every one of them is a hazardous-cargo berth.
- Where we work
- Oil berths along the Vridi Canal · Petroci and SIAP tanker berths · Anchorage off the canal entrance
- Vessels we see here
- Product tankers · Bitumen tankers · LPG carriers · Bunker barges
What we do at Vridi
- 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 Port Autonome d'Abidjan 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 Vridi
The combination of Atlantic swell and rain governs the calendar at Vridi Oil Terminals, 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. Because the harbour is sheltered, work here normally runs alongside or at a protected anchorage and can proceed in parallel with cargo operations rather than competing with them for the berth window.
Work is taken at the oil berths along the Vridi Canal, Petroci and SIAP tanker berths, anchorage off the canal entrance, and which of those a vessel ends up at changes the dive plan more than the season does. Teams mobilise via Abidjan (ABJ), 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 Vridi
Liquid and gas tonnage here spends long stretches at the terminal or waiting for a slot, so growth tends to be even and well established across the hull rather than patchy — heavier than the trading pattern suggests, and further along than a speed report alone would indicate.
Shelter is a mixed blessing for a hull. The same calm that makes the port easy to work in is still water, and still water grows fouling faster than an exposed berth does.
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 Vridi
- 1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the coating specification and the window at Vridi. 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
Port Autonome d'Abidjan 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. 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 Vridi
Divers, compressors, brush carts and cameras mobilise via Abidjan (ABJ). Where a vessel is also calling at Lion, 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.
Vridi Oil Terminals at a glance
- UN/LOCODE
- CIPBT
- Port type
- State Port
- State
- Abidjan
- Country
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Water body
- Vridi Canal and the Ébrié Lagoon
- Port authority
- Port Autonome d'Abidjan
- Main cargoes
- Crude oil and refined products, Bitumen, LPG
- Crew mobilisation
- Abidjan (ABJ)
- Services here
- Hull Cleaning
Frequently asked — Underwater Hull Cleaning at Vridi
Do you provide underwater hull cleaning at Vridi Oil Terminals?
Yes. Cleanship Marine works Vridi Oil Terminals (CIPBT) in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, covering the oil berths along the Vridi Canal, Petroci and SIAP tanker berths, anchorage off the canal entrance. Teams mobilise via Abidjan (ABJ) with the full spread.
Can a tanker's hull be cleaned at a Vridi oil berth?
Only with the terminal's written permission, and only at slack water, because the canal has a current and every berth handles hazardous cargo. Where the terminal will not permit it, we clean at the anchorage off the Vridi Canal entrance before or after the vessel's berth.
Can underwater hull cleaning be done while the vessel works cargo at Vridi?
Only with the terminal's agreement, because every berth on the Vridi Canal is a hazardous-cargo berth. Where the terminal permits it, work is done alongside at slack water in the canal; where it does not, the vessel is cleaned at the anchorage off the canal entrance before or after her berth. The vessel stays on hire throughout, and there is no diversion and no dry dock. We scope against the conditions at Vridi and tell you honestly whether the window you have is enough.
Do you need a diving permit from Port Autonome d'Abidjan?
Yes, and we obtain it. Diving permission from Port Autonome d'Abidjan, 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 Vridi?
Visibility at Vridi Oil Terminals is low to moderate — the canal carries lagoon water out to sea and sea water in, and the brackish, sediment-laden lagoon side is much cloudier than the open sea outside, and the combination of Atlantic swell and rain 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 Vridi?
Product tankers, Bitumen tankers, LPG carriers and Bunker barges — the traffic at Vridi Oil Terminals runs to crude oil and refined products, bitumen, LPG, 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 Vridi?
Divers and equipment mobilise via Abidjan (ABJ). 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 Lion or Abidjan, one mobilisation is often sized to cover both.
What does underwater hull cleaning at Vridi cost?
It depends on the vessel's dimensions and wetted area, the fouling state found, the coating specification and the working window available at Vridi. 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 Vridi and you get a scoped price, usually the same working day.
Underwater Hull Cleaning at Vridi Oil Terminals.
Tell us the vessel, her ETA at Vridi and the window. You get a scope, a crew size and an honest duration — usually the same working day.