UWILD at Praia 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 Praia Port, Santiago, 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.
Cape Verde's main ship repair yard, Cabnave, is in Mindelo on another island; beyond that, a docking means leaving the archipelago. For a ferry that the island network depends on, or a feeder on a tight rotation, taking the vessel out of service for a dry dock is expensive in a way that goes beyond the yard bill. UWILD at Praia lets an eligible vessel earn the docking survey credit without leaving her route, and it is planned around the timetable like any other job here.
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 Praia
Praia sits in a natural bay between Ponta Temerosa and Ponta das Bicudas, with the Ilhéu de Santa Maria to the west, and the quays are sheltered from the north-east trade wind that governs the rest of the archipelago. The water is ocean water rather than river or lagoon water, so visibility is good by the standards of the African coast, though it drops close to the quays with propeller wash and harbour traffic. The berths are busy with ferries and feeders, so in-water work is either sequenced around the ferry timetable or taken at the anchorage in the bay.
- Where we work
- Main commercial quays · Ferry berths · Fishing quay · Anchorage in Praia bay
- Vessels we see here
- Feeder container ships · Inter-island ferries · General cargo coasters · Cruise ships · Fishing vessels
What we do at Praia
- 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 Praia
- 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 Praia
The trade-wind and swell season governs the calendar at Praia 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 main commercial quays, ferry berths, fishing quay and anchorage in Praia bay, and which of those a vessel ends up at changes the dive plan more than the season does. Teams mobilise via Praia (RAI), 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 Praia
Container tonnage on a fixed rotation shows the familiar pattern: light slime over most of the vertical sides, with the real accumulation in the flat bottom, the bilge keels and the niches where flow is slowest. Those are the areas that cost fuel and the ones a quick clean tends to skip.
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 Praia
- 1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the coating specification and the window at Praia. 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 Praia
Divers, compressors, brush carts and cameras mobilise via Praia (RAI). Where a vessel is also calling at Vale dos Cavaleiros, 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.
Praia Port at a glance
- UN/LOCODE
- CVRAI
- Port type
- State Port
- Island
- Santiago
- Country
- Cape Verde
- Water body
- Atlantic Ocean
- Port authority
- ENAPOR – Portos de Cabo Verde
- Main cargoes
- Containers, General cargo, Construction materials, Fishing catch
- Crew mobilisation
- Praia (RAI)
- Services here
- Hull Cleaning
Frequently asked — UWILD Inspection at Praia
Do you provide UWILD at Praia Port?
Yes. Cleanship Marine works Praia Port (CVRAI) in Santiago, Cape Verde, covering the main commercial quays, ferry berths, fishing quay and anchorage in Praia bay. Teams mobilise via Praia (RAI) with the full spread.
Where is the nearest dry dock to Praia?
The Cabnave ship repair yard in Mindelo, on São Vicente, is the country's main yard; otherwise the vessel has to leave the archipelago. For eligible vessels, UWILD in Praia earns the survey credit without that trip. We confirm eligibility with the class society before anything is booked.
Can UWILD be done while the vessel works cargo at Praia?
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 Praia 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 Praia?
Visibility at Praia Port is good — this is ocean water with no river runoff — though it drops for a while near the quays after ferry and feeder movements stir up the bottom, 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 Praia?
Feeder container ships, Inter-island ferries, General cargo coasters, Cruise ships and Fishing vessels — the traffic at Praia Port runs to containers, general cargo and construction materials, 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 Praia?
Divers and equipment mobilise via Praia (RAI). 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 Vale dos Cavaleiros or Furna, one mobilisation is often sized to cover both.
What does UWILD at Praia cost?
It depends on the vessel's dimensions and wetted area, the fouling state found, the coating specification and the working window available at Praia. 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 Praia and you get a scoped price, usually the same working day.
UWILD at Praia Port.
Tell us the vessel, her ETA at Praia and the window. You get a scope, a crew size and an honest duration — usually the same working day.