UWILD at Cochin Port
Survey credit earned without leaving the water
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Tell us the vessel, the port and the window. Scoped reply, usually the same working day.
Cleanship Marine runs full UWILD programmes — Underwater Inspection In Lieu of Drydocking — at Cochin Port, Kerala, from eligibility discussion through class liaison to the final report package.
UWILD lets a vessel satisfy a survey requirement that would otherwise mean a dry docking, at a fraction of the cost and with none of the off-hire. The requirements are exacting: the contractor must hold class approval, the vessel must be eligible, hull markings must let the surveyor locate features precisely, and the inspection has to be delivered live and documented. Shelter is on your side here — the vessel is stable and the dive is uninterrupted — but basin silt means the lighting and camera plan has to be agreed with the surveyor before the class attendance is booked, not improvised on the day.
What it gets you
- Drydocking deferred and the survey credit earned in the water
- Class liaison handled end to end rather than left with the superintendent
- Eligibility confirmed before cost is committed, not discovered afterwards
- A documented inspection record that stands up to class review
Working conditions at Cochin
Cochin is a natural harbour behind Willingdon Island and is genuinely sheltered, so alongside work is comfortable for most of the year and swell only becomes a factor at the outer anchorage during the south-west monsoon. The harbour is brackish, silty and under continuous maintenance dredging, so visibility is moderate at best. The bigger operational point is biological: warm, nutrient-rich backwater means growth returns quickly here, and cleaning intervals that hold on the dry Gujarat coast are too long for Cochin.
- Where we work
- Vallarpadam container terminal · Willingdon Island berths · Puthuvypeen terminals · Outer anchorage
- Vessels we see here
- Container ships · Crude and product tankers · LNG carriers · Cruise ships · Offshore support vessels
What we do at Cochin
- Eligibility review against the vessel's age, type, class notation and survey history before anything is booked
- Programme agreed with the class society and the surveyor attending at Cochin
- Hull, rudder, propeller, stern gear, sea chests and appendages inspected to the UWILD scope
- Live video, thickness measurement and clearance readings where the programme calls for them
- Diving permission cleared with Cochin Port Authority, with the vessel secured and machinery immobilised
- Complete report package submitted for the class file and the drydocking credit
Planning the window at Cochin
The south-west monsoon governs the calendar at Cochin Port, roughly June to September. Swell and reduced surface visibility close most open-water work on this coast for the duration, and the weeks either side are unreliable rather than unusable. 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 Vallarpadam container terminal, Willingdon Island berths, Puthuvypeen terminals and outer anchorage, and which of those a vessel ends up at changes the dive plan more than the season does. Teams mobilise via Kochi (COK), 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 Cochin
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 UWILD attendance, wherever the vessel is. Anything outside it is quoted separately and flagged before mobilisation, never added afterwards.
- Eligibility and planning
- Vessel eligibility, survey scope and the society's specific requirements are established and agreed before mobilisation.
- Hull preparation
- Reference markings and cleaning of inspection areas so structure and features can be located and viewed unambiguously.
- Systematic inspection
- Shell plating, welds, rudder, propeller, sea chests, openings, anodes and appendages inspected to the agreed programme.
- Measurement and NDT
- Clearance measurement and underwater NDT carried out where the survey scope requires it.
- Documentation
- Video, stills, measurements and findings compiled into a report package suitable for submission to the classification society.
How we deliver it at Cochin
- 1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the coating specification and the window at Cochin. 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
Diving permission is obtained from Cochin Port Authority, along with terminal approval where the berth requires it and any environmental clearance for in-water work. This is handled by us, not left with the agent to chase.
- 3
Mobilisation to Cochin
Divers, compressors, brush carts and cameras mobilise via Kochi (COK). Where a vessel is also calling at Mangalore, 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 UWILD 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.
Cochin Port at a glance
- UN/LOCODE
- INCOK
- Port type
- Major Port
- State
- Kerala
- Country
- India
- Water body
- Arabian Sea and the Vembanad backwaters
- Port authority
- Cochin Port Authority
- Main cargoes
- Containers, Crude, POL and LNG, Fertiliser, Edible oil, Cruise
- Crew mobilisation
- Kochi (COK)
- Services here
- Hull Cleaning, Hold Cleaning and Tank Cleaning
Frequently asked — UWILD Inspection at Cochin
Do you provide UWILD at Cochin Port?
Yes. Cleanship Marine works Cochin Port (INCOK) in Kerala, India, covering the Vallarpadam container terminal, Willingdon Island berths, Puthuvypeen terminals and outer anchorage. Teams mobilise via Kochi (COK) with the full spread.
Can UWILD be done while the vessel works cargo at Cochin?
Yes, in most cases. The harbour is sheltered enough that divers work alongside while cargo operations continue, and neither holds the other up. The vessel stays on hire throughout, and there is no diversion and no dry dock. We scope against the conditions at Cochin and tell you honestly whether the window you have is enough.
Do you need a diving permit from Cochin Port Authority?
Yes, and we obtain it. Diving permission from Cochin Port Authority, 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 Cochin?
Visibility at Cochin Port is moderate, and it drops further around active bulk handling and after heavy rain, and the south-west monsoon 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 UWILD on at Cochin?
Container ships, Crude and product tankers, LNG carriers, Cruise ships, Offshore support vessels — the traffic at Cochin Port runs to containers, crude, pol and lng, fertiliser, 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 Cochin?
Divers and equipment mobilise via Kochi (COK). 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 Mangalore or Tuticorin, one mobilisation is often sized to cover both.
What does UWILD at Cochin cost?
It depends on the vessel's dimensions and wetted area, the fouling state found, the coating specification and the working window available at Cochin. 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 Cochin and you get a scoped price, usually the same working day.
UWILD at Cochin Port.
Tell us the vessel, her ETA at Cochin and the window. You get a scope, a crew size and an honest duration — usually the same working day.