UWILD at Mindelo 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 Mindelo Port, São Vicente, 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.
Mindelo is the one port in Cape Verde where a dry dock is close at hand: Cabnave, the country's main ship repair yard, is in the same bay. That makes the UWILD decision here a straight comparison rather than a necessity. If the vessel is eligible and the scope is inspection only, UWILD keeps her trading and avoids the yard's queue. If the inspection is likely to find work that needs the ship out of the water, a docking at Cabnave may be the better call — and we would rather say so up front.
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 Mindelo
Porto Grande is a bay formed in an old, drowned volcanic crater, which is what makes it the deepest and best-sheltered natural harbour in the archipelago. Inside the bay the water is calm and — away from the working quays — clear. The exposure is in the approaches: the channel between São Vicente and Santo Antão funnels the north-east trade wind and can run a rough sea when the trades are strong, so launches and dive support are planned against the wind as well as the berth.
- Where we work
- Commercial quays of Porto Grande · Mindelo cruise terminal · Bunkering anchorage in the bay · Fishing port
- Vessels we see here
- Transatlantic vessels calling for bunkers · Cruise ships · Feeder container ships · Fishing vessels · Inter-island ferries
What we do at Mindelo
- 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 Mindelo
- 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 ENAPOR – Portos de Cabo Verde, with the vessel secured and machinery immobilised
- Complete report package submitted for the class file and the drydocking credit
Planning the window at Mindelo
The trade-wind and swell season governs the calendar at Mindelo Port, with the strongest trade winds from roughly December to May, and a short rainy season from August to October. The islands sit in open ocean, so a port's exposure depends on which side of its island it faces: the lee-side harbours stay calm while the trade wind blows, but long-period swell from North Atlantic storms reaches the north and west coasts in winter, and the late-summer tropical waves that pass through here can turn into storms. 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 commercial quays of Porto Grande, Mindelo cruise terminal, bunkering anchorage in the bay and fishing port, and which of those a vessel ends up at changes the dive plan more than the season does. Teams mobilise via São Vicente (VXE), 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 Mindelo
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 Mindelo
- 1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the coating specification and the window at Mindelo. 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
ENAPOR – Portos de Cabo Verde 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 Mindelo
Divers, compressors, brush carts and cameras mobilise via São Vicente (VXE). Where a vessel is also calling at Tarrafal, 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.
Mindelo Port at a glance
- UN/LOCODE
- CVMIN
- Port type
- State Port
- Island
- São Vicente
- Country
- Cape Verde
- Water body
- Mindelo Bay (Porto Grande), Atlantic Ocean
- Port authority
- ENAPOR – Portos de Cabo Verde
- Main cargoes
- Containers, Fuel and bunkers, General cargo, Fishing catch
- Crew mobilisation
- São Vicente (VXE)
- Services here
- Hull Cleaning
Frequently asked — UWILD Inspection at Mindelo
Do you provide UWILD at Mindelo Port?
Yes. Cleanship Marine works Mindelo Port (CVMIN) in São Vicente, Cape Verde, covering the commercial quays of Porto Grande, Mindelo cruise terminal, bunkering anchorage in the bay and fishing port. Teams mobilise via São Vicente (VXE) with the full spread.
Should we do UWILD in Mindelo or dock at Cabnave?
It depends on what the survey needs. If the vessel is eligible and the scope is inspection only, UWILD keeps her in service and avoids the yard. If repairs below the waterline are likely, docking at Cabnave in the same bay may make more sense. We check eligibility with class and give you an honest comparison before anything is booked.
Can UWILD be done while the vessel works cargo at Mindelo?
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 Mindelo and tell you honestly whether the window you have is enough.
Do you need a diving permit from ENAPOR – Portos de Cabo Verde?
Yes, and we obtain it. Diving permission from ENAPOR – Portos de Cabo Verde, 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 Mindelo?
Visibility at Mindelo Port is the best of any Cape Verdean harbour inside the sheltered crater bay, reduced only close to the busy commercial quays, and the trade-wind and swell season 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 Mindelo?
Transatlantic vessels calling for bunkers, Cruise ships, Feeder container ships, Fishing vessels and Inter-island ferries — the traffic at Mindelo Port runs to containers, fuel and bunkers, general cargo, 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 Mindelo?
Divers and equipment mobilise via São Vicente (VXE). 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 Tarrafal or Palmeira, one mobilisation is often sized to cover both.
What does UWILD at Mindelo cost?
It depends on the vessel's dimensions and wetted area, the fouling state found, the coating specification and the working window available at Mindelo. 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 Mindelo and you get a scoped price, usually the same working day.
UWILD at Mindelo Port.
Tell us the vessel, her ETA at Mindelo and the window. You get a scope, a crew size and an honest duration — usually the same working day.