UWILD at Visakhapatnam 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 Visakhapatnam Port, Andhra Pradesh, 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 Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam has the deepest natural harbour on India's east coast, with an inner harbour that is very well sheltered and an outer harbour built for large bulk tonnage. That shelter means alongside dive work runs through most of the year, with the cyclone seasons the main interruption at the anchorage. Inner harbour water is silty with moderate to low visibility while the outer harbour is generally clearer, so the same port supports both touch-work cleaning and usable survey video depending on where the vessel lies.
- Where we work
- Inner harbour berths · Outer harbour · Anchorage
- Vessels we see here
- Capesize and Panamax bulk carriers · Crude and product tankers · Container ships · Offshore and naval auxiliary craft
What we do at Visakhapatnam
- 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 Visakhapatnam
- 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 Visakhapatnam 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 Visakhapatnam
The north-east monsoon governs the calendar at Visakhapatnam Port, roughly October to December. The Bay of Bengal also carries cyclone risk in April to June and again from October to December, so an anchorage attendance on this coast is planned with a standby allowance rather than a single fixed date. 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 inner harbour berths, outer harbour and anchorage, and which of those a vessel ends up at changes the dive plan more than the season does. Cleanship holds an operating base at Visakhapatnam, so we can hold a team ready against a shifting ETA rather than committing travel to a date that may move.
What we typically find at Visakhapatnam
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 Visakhapatnam than owners budget for.
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 Visakhapatnam
- 1
Scope and vessel details
Tell us the vessel, her particulars, the coating specification and the window at Visakhapatnam. 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 Visakhapatnam 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 Visakhapatnam
Cleanship holds an operating base at Visakhapatnam, so divers, compressors, brush carts and cameras are on the ground rather than in transit. That is the difference between meeting a window and missing it.
- 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.
Visakhapatnam Port at a glance
- UN/LOCODE
- INVTZ
- Port type
- Major Port
- State
- Andhra Pradesh
- Country
- India
- Water body
- Bay of Bengal
- Port authority
- Visakhapatnam Port Authority
- Main cargoes
- Iron ore and pellets, Coking and thermal coal, Crude and POL, Containers, Fertiliser, Alumina
- Crew mobilisation
- Visakhapatnam (VTZ)
- Services here
- Hull Cleaning, Hold Cleaning and Tank Cleaning
Frequently asked — UWILD Inspection at Visakhapatnam
Do you provide UWILD at Visakhapatnam Port?
Yes. Cleanship Marine works Visakhapatnam Port (INVTZ) in Andhra Pradesh, India, covering the inner harbour berths, outer harbour and anchorage. We hold an operating base at Visakhapatnam, so people and equipment are held locally rather than mobilised against a window.
Can UWILD be done while the vessel works cargo at Visakhapatnam?
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 Visakhapatnam and tell you honestly whether the window you have is enough.
Do you need a diving permit from Visakhapatnam Port Authority?
Yes, and we obtain it. Diving permission from Visakhapatnam 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 Visakhapatnam?
Visibility at Visakhapatnam Port is moderate, and it drops further around active bulk handling and after heavy rain, and the north-east 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 Visakhapatnam?
Capesize and Panamax bulk carriers, Crude and product tankers, Container ships, Offshore and naval auxiliary craft — the traffic at Visakhapatnam Port runs to iron ore and pellets, coking and 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 Visakhapatnam?
Cleanship keeps an operating base at Visakhapatnam, so response here is fast — the constraint is normally the approvals and the working window rather than getting divers and equipment to the port.
What does UWILD at Visakhapatnam cost?
It depends on the vessel's dimensions and wetted area, the fouling state found, the coating specification and the working window available at Visakhapatnam. 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 Visakhapatnam and you get a scoped price, usually the same working day.
UWILD at Visakhapatnam Port.
Tell us the vessel, her ETA at Visakhapatnam and the window. You get a scope, a crew size and an honest duration — usually the same working day.