UWILD at Mundra 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 Mundra Port, Gujarat, 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. Low visibility and short slack windows make this a demanding survey port. Scope, lighting and the surveyor's acceptance criteria are agreed up front, and where the conditions will not support the scope we say so before the attendance is booked.
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 Mundra
Mundra takes some of the largest tonnage calling anywhere in India, so a hull clean here is a big-area job that needs realistic planning rather than an optimistic single shift. The Gulf of Kutch tidal stream is strong and the water silty, so windows are worked around slack and visibility is low throughout. Terminal windows are tight and productivity-driven, which means the scope and the crew size are fixed before mobilisation and any contingency is agreed in advance, not negotiated at the gangway.
- Where we work
- Container terminals · Bulk and coal berths · Liquid terminals · Outer anchorage
- Vessels we see here
- Large container ships · Capesize and Panamax bulk carriers · Crude and product tankers
What we do at Mundra
- 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 Mundra
- 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 Mundra Port and the Gujarat Maritime Board, with the vessel secured and machinery immobilised
- Complete report package submitted for the class file and the drydocking credit
Planning the window at Mundra
The south-west monsoon governs the calendar at Mundra 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. The tidal stream and the silt load govern the method here: the working window is slack water, not the working day, and the operation is planned by feel and surface supervision with video kept as the record rather than as the diver's means of navigation.
Work is taken at the container terminals, bulk and coal berths, liquid terminals, outer anchorage, and which of those a vessel ends up at changes the dive plan more than the season does. Teams mobilise via Mundra or Bhuj (BHJ), 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 Mundra
Dry bulk handling here puts cargo dust into the water around the berths and anchorage. It settles on horizontal surfaces and packs into sea chest gratings and inlet openings, so inlet and grating clearance is routinely a larger part of the job at Mundra than owners budget for.
Silt settles over the growth on the flat bottom and in the niches, which masks the true fouling state until the divers are actually on it. That is why the pre-clean survey here is a real step rather than a formality.
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 Mundra
- 1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the coating specification and the window at Mundra. 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 Mundra Port and the Gujarat Maritime Board, 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 Mundra
Divers, compressors, brush carts and cameras mobilise via Mundra or Bhuj (BHJ). Where a vessel is also calling at Kandla, 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.
Mundra Port at a glance
- UN/LOCODE
- INMUN
- Port type
- Private Port
- State
- Gujarat
- Country
- India
- Water body
- Gulf of Kutch
- Port authority
- Mundra Port and the Gujarat Maritime Board
- Main cargoes
- Containers, Thermal coal, Crude and POL, Fertiliser, Edible oil, Project cargo
- Crew mobilisation
- Mundra / Bhuj (BHJ) / Kandla (IXY)
- Services here
- Hull Cleaning, Hold Cleaning and Tank Cleaning
Frequently asked — UWILD Inspection at Mundra
Do you provide UWILD at Mundra Port?
Yes. Cleanship Marine works Mundra Port (INMUN) in Gujarat, India, covering the container terminals, bulk and coal berths, liquid terminals, outer anchorage. Teams mobilise via Mundra or Bhuj (BHJ) with the full spread.
Can UWILD be done while the vessel works cargo at Mundra?
Usually yes, but the tide sets the schedule rather than the cargo plan. The practical question is how many slack windows fall inside the vessel's stay, not what the holds are doing. The vessel stays on hire throughout, and there is no diversion and no dry dock. We scope against the conditions at Mundra and tell you honestly whether the window you have is enough.
Do you need a diving permit from Mundra Port and the Gujarat Maritime Board?
Yes, and we obtain it. Diving permission from Mundra Port and the Gujarat Maritime Board, 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 Mundra?
Visibility at Mundra Port is habitually very low, and often close to nil at the turn, 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 Mundra?
Large container ships, Capesize and Panamax bulk carriers, Crude and product tankers — the traffic at Mundra Port runs to containers, thermal coal, crude and pol, 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 Mundra?
Divers and equipment mobilise via Mundra or Bhuj (BHJ). 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 Kandla or Navlakhi, one mobilisation is often sized to cover both.
What does UWILD at Mundra cost?
It depends on the vessel's dimensions and wetted area, the fouling state found, the coating specification and the working window available at Mundra. 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 Mundra and you get a scoped price, usually the same working day.
UWILD at Mundra Port.
Tell us the vessel, her ETA at Mundra and the window. You get a scope, a crew size and an honest duration — usually the same working day.