HOLD CLEANING FOR GRAIN

PREPARATION OF CARGO HOLDS FOR GRAIN CARGO When nominated to load grain cargo ship staff shall remember the following issues : Even after discharging other grain cargo prior to nomination, the holds will require as thorough cleaning and preparation as required for any other previous cargo. There shall be no trace of any previous cargo residue anywhere in the holds and its structures. There shall be no Loose Rust or flaking paint patches allowed at any part of the cargo holds. The hatch covers underneath and hatch coamings with their channels & drainage shall be free of loose rust, paint flakes and cargo residue.

PREPARATION OF CARGO HOLDS FOR GRAIN CARGO 5. Cargo holds bulkheads and sides and hopper plates shall have no previous cargo dirty stains (coal or dark ore cargo stains) 6. Rust on the Tank top is common on bulk carriers. Loose rust is not accepted. Hard adhering rust need not be removed. 7. Cargo holds and weather decks shall be inspected after cleaning and washing to ensure that there is no trace of any live or dead insect/weevils 8. The cargo hold bilges shall be clean, free of any trace of previous cargo residue or rust particles and odour-free. The bilge suction effectiveness shall be verified Weather deck including cross decks and around the coaming stays and underneath pipelines shall have no trace of previous cargo residue.

PREPARATION OF CARGO HOLDS FOR GRAIN CARGO Hold cleaning Criteria : Previous cargo determination Find out what was last 3-5 cargoes carried and inform all crew so that all know what cargo residue to look for. 2. Removal of cargo residue: Air Blow from top using high pressure air ( air nozzle tied to long pole to reach all accessible corners) or if available, close washing with high pressure (250 bars and above) water lance gun special attention to following areas: Australian ladder and its platforms and stanchions Beams and girders under cross decks Pipe guards recess behind the pipes Large pipes holding brackets behind the pipes Behind the flat face of the transverse frames Horizontal stringer plates wherever fitted

Cargo hold-cargo residue of cement sticking all over

Brackets for pipes where cargo residues usually accumulate

Cargo residue stuck hard behind shell frames Frame face plate Cargo residue

Cargo residue sticking to plain bulkhead

The areas under cross decks where the beams and girder flanges can have cargo residue Flanges of beams & girders

Solid plate guards of pipes passing through holds Solid plate guards of pipes passing through holds. Cargo residue remains inside the guard plates and brackets brackets Cargo residue

PREPARATION OF CARGO HOLDS FOR GRAIN CARGO 3. Removal of Loose Rust & Paint Flakes: Wherever loose rust is suspected (general appearance of paint flakes or blisters on painted surface) a sharp hand scraper shall be used to take off the peeling rust & paint flakes Special attention to following areas: Australian ladder and its platforms, hand rails and stanchions Beams and girders under cross decks Pipe guards recess and behind the pipes Large pipes holding brackets and behind the pipes Behind the flat face and vertical face of the transverse frames and brackets- also hopper tank plates Hatch coamings and under hatch covers Man entry booby hatches & covers

Loose rust flakes and blisters on hold bulkheads Loose rust and rust blisters and paint blisters

Widespread rust blisters on cargo hold bulkhead

Rust scales on side frames which come off with scraper

Rust flaking and loose on the pipes

Perfectly painted surface have isolated loose rust blister

Australian ladder loose rust

PREPARING HOLDS FOR GRAIN Condition of underneath of hatch covers Inspect condition of underneath of H/Covers when in open condition Any loose rust or cargo residue shall be scraped off Areas around the grain hole/ cement holes –special attention H/Cover vent louvres and nets are usually found rusty Paint the scraped areas to have clean look H/Cover channels and drains require clean appearance-no cargo residue accepted

Loose rust flakes and cargo residue underneath hatch covers Vent. Louvers

Loose rust flakes underneath hatch covers

Special attention to be paid for any grain hole or cement hole covers Grain holes on hatch covers

Hatch cover underneath- Acceptable condition.

Man entry booby hatch entrance and its cover rust and cargo residue

Hold entrance booby hatch acceptable condition

PREPARATION OF CARGO HOLDS FOR GRAIN CARGO 5. Removal of previous cargo stain Cargo stains left by previous dirty cargos such as Coal and Mineral Ores must be remove as much as possible Such stains shall not be acceptable if it comes off on a white cloth rubbing – surveyor/inspectors do carry out this process Vessel shall have sufficient cleaning chemical like Aquatuf available on board along with spraying equipment, chemical resistant personal protective clothes and safeguards. Vessel must have Air pressure Combi-Gun/Tobey Gun to clean such stains at higher places

Cargo stains of coal cargo on the end bulkhead and hopper

Cargo stains of coal cargo on the hopper plates

PREPARATION OF CARGO HOLDS FOR GRAIN CARGO 6. Removal of tank top loose rust Tank tops of bulk carriers can never stay painted as heavy bulldozers and grabs work on them. Tank top should be free of loose rust and cargo residue Any rust which can be scraped by hand scrapers should be removed. Hard adhering rust is not a hindrance to hold acceptability. The tank top should be rinsed with fresh water.

Cargo hold tank top- loose rust patches

Tank top extensive loose rust coming up by scraping

PEST INFESTATION IN HOLDS 7. Presence of Insect/ Weevil/Larvae in cargo holds. If vessel had carried grain cargo in the recent past it is possible to have such live or dead insect/weevil/larvae in holds They are usually found at the welding seams of tank top & hopper or bulkheads, in the hold bilges upper corners, corners of frames and brackets. Crew shall look for these insect specifically and carefully after all cleaning is done. Brooms, Mops and burlaps used for preparation may also bring them in.

Stored Grain Pests and Weevil Larvae

Weevils found in Rice and Wheat

PREPARATION OF CARGO HOLDS FOR GRAIN CARGO 8. Cleanliness of cargo hold bilges Hold bilges must be cleaned thoroughly to remove all residue, rust particles and cargo stains etc. The filter (Rose Box) must be cleaned thoroughly The bilge well sections shall be washed with continuous running of sea water to remove all odour and later rinsed with fresh water. The bilge well must be sponged dry to remove all trace of water and dried.

Hold bilge clean and dry but stains and loose flakes remains. Rose box dirty and bilge well stains remain

Hold bilge acceptable condition.

PREPARATION OF CARGO HOLDS FOR GRAIN CARGO Hold cleaning – Best Practices Use High pressure Air Blow from starting from top to collecting at bottom all dusty cargo residue- hold the nozzle tied to a long bamboo pole for cleaning the difficult to reach areas. Collect all sweeping of cargo residue from tank top before start of washing. Use air/water Combi -Gun (also called Tobey Gun) placed on a tri-pod stand/platform. The best results of such high pressure jet washing is obtained if followed the following procedure :

PREPARATION OF CARGO HOLDS FOR GRAIN CARGO Start pointing the jet from bottom of the structure like side frames and bulkheads, slowly moving up- holding enough time at one place so that the jet of water have the chance to soften the accumulated cargo residue and dislodge them. The forceful jet acting on the surface at an acute angle will have a scraping effect. Shift the Tobey Gun platform/stand closer to the hopper edge/bulkhead to obtain the acute angle. Once the jet has reached the top of the structure, make a down sweep of the water jet to wash down all the debris which is now soft and dislodged. Patiently holding the water jet while going up and down is the key to remove all possible cargo residue from the difficult to reach areas. Operating the water jet from first upper platform of Australian ladder for removing all cargo residue from flanges of beams and girders under cross decks.

PREPARATION OF CARGO HOLDS FOR GRAIN CARGO When the holds are dry- all side frames, pipe guards, spiral & other ladder steps to be hit with sledge hammers- loose rust will fall down. Any loose rust areas and peeling paint need to be scraped using hand scrapers Aluminum extension ladders to be used for reaching upper areas of the holds. There are some types of Aluminum light weight ladders available for the ship’s crew to reach high areas for close inspection and cleaning. Safety of crew when working aloft on these ladders is important specially when working at sea and with ship movement. Tower extension ladders with extended platform are the best and most effective.

Aluminum multi stage Extension ladders

Tower Extension ladder

A typical washing of cargo hold by Tobey Gun

Tobey gun- Combi-gun with its stand and platform

Maxijet powerful water jet

Maxijet working in a Panamax size hold

Maxijet being used for removing Pet Coke stains

How closely the inspectors check for hold condition

THANK YOU HOLD CLEANING FOR GRAIN