Ultrasonic testing aboard ship: what each instrument checks, and how
Five shipboard checks, five Coltraco instruments: where each one is used, how one crew member runs it, and which standard it helps you satisfy.
Every Coltraco instrument turns something you can't see, whether a worn seal, a leaking fire cylinder, thinning steel, a flow rate or a falling gas pressure, into a number you can read and log. The sensor stays on the outside, so nothing is opened, drained, weighed or discharged, and one operator gets a decisive reading in seconds.
Start from the job
Each row jumps to how the check is done, then on to the full product detail and a quote.
- Fire-suppression cylinder chargeCO2, FM-200®, NOVEC™ 1230 and other liquefied agentsPortalevel® + Portasteele® Calculator: liquid level, then agent weight. How ↓
- Watertight & weathertight integrityHatch covers, watertight doors, MCT sealsPortascanner® WATERTIGHT: a reading in dB or %OHV along the seal. How ↓
- Hull & structural thicknessPlating, bulkheads, tanks, pipeworkPortagauge® 6: remaining steel, through the paint. How ↓
- Pipe flowFuel, cooling, fire sprinkler, heat networksPortasonic® (portable) or Permaflow® (fixed): flow without cutting the pipe. How ↓
- Inert-gas cylinder pressureInergen®, nitrogen, oxygen, argonPortagas®: the check a level indicator can't do. How ↓
Sound that reads through steel
Ultrasound, sound above human hearing, travels through metal, liquid and gas in predictable ways, and changes when it meets a boundary. Coltraco's instruments use that in four ways:
- Watertight tester: listens for ultrasound leaking through a gap in a seal.
- Level indicator: detects the boundary between liquid agent and gas inside a cylinder.
- Thickness gauge: times echoes bouncing between the two faces of a steel plate.
- Flow meter: times pulses sent with and against the flow in a pipe.
In every case the sensor stays on the outside. Nothing is opened, drained or discharged, so the inspection adds no risk and no downtime.
Five jobs, five instruments
The same four questions for each: where it is used, where the sensor goes, what you read, and the figure that matters.
Portalevel® & Portasteele®
Confirm the agent is still in the bottle.
- Used on
- Any fixed gaseous fire-suppression cylinder: CO2, FM-200®, NOVEC™ 1230, Halon, FE-13™/FE-25™ and clean agents
- Sensor goes
- On the outside of the cylinder wall; an extension rod reaches banked cylinders stacked several deep
- You read
- The liquid line, then agent weight in kg from the Portasteele® Calculator
- The figure
- Level in under 30 seconds; weight to within 1% of true
How: calibrate, read the level, then check the weight against the fill weight stamped on the cylinder. No removal, no weighing, no discharge. Level indicators →
Portascanner® WATERTIGHT
Find the gap a visual check misses.
- Used on
- Hatch covers, watertight doors and multi-cable transit (MCT) seals
- Sensor goes
- A 40 kHz ultrasonic generator inside the closed compartment; the receiver wand swept along the seal line from outside
- You read
- Decibels, a number, or an Open Hatch Value (%OHV)
- The figure
- A hatch cover is treated as weathertight when its %OHV is below 10%
PRO: photograph the site and plot the exact leak location for repair and re-inspection. Hatch cover & watertight testing →
Portagauge® 6
Measure the steel that's left, through the paint.
- Used on
- Hull plating, bulkheads, tanks and pipework, anywhere corrosion or erosion thins steel
- Sensor goes
- A dual-element probe on the coated surface: 2.5 MHz as standard, 5.0 MHz as an option
- You read
- True remaining metal, by the multiple-echo technique that times reflections between the metal faces
- The figure
- Ignores coatings up to 20 mm thick, with no grinding back to bare steel
How: calibrate on the supplied 5 mm test block and log readings for the corrosion record. Meets BS EN 15317:2013 and classification-society requirements. Thickness gauges →
Portasonic® & Permaflow®
Meter the flow without cutting the pipe.
- Used on
- Fuel transfers, loading/unloading, cooling and fire sprinkler lines, and heat networks
- Sensor goes
- A pair of transit-time sensors clamped to the outside with couplant, clear of bends and valves
- You read
- Flow rate, from a pulse sent with the flow timed against one sent against it
- The figure
- ±0.5%
Which: portable Portasonic® for surveys and commissioning; fixed Permaflow® for continuous 24/7 monitoring with alerts. No drilling, no downtime, no pressure loss. Flow meters →
Portagas®
The check a level indicator can't do.
- Used on
- Inert and compressed-gas fire-suppression cylinders, such as Inergen®, nitrogen, oxygen and argon
- Why not a level
- Inert gases stay gaseous, so there is no liquid line to read
- You read
- The change in internal pressure from a known baseline, corrected for temperature
- The figure
- Better precision than the 5% loss that NFPA 2001 and ISO 14520 act on
Liquefied agents such as CO2 or FM-200® are Portalevel territory. Gas pressure →
Explosive atmospheres: on LNG/LPG carriers, oil tankers, offshore platforms and gas and chemical facilities, use the ATEX/IECEx Portalevel® IS, rated for Zone 1 & 2.
Flow, before you specify: the meters are for clean liquids with gas or solids under 10% of the volume. Pipe size depends on the sensor: DN15 to DN700 on the standard sensor, up to DN2500 with the optional DS10 large sensor (Portasonic PLUS, Permaflow); the Portasonic PRO covers DN15 to DN750.
Which instrument satisfies which requirement
The regulations a surveyor or port-state inspector works to, and the Coltraco instrument that produces the evidence.
| Standard / requirement | What it asks for | Instrument |
|---|---|---|
| IMO SOLAS Reg II-1/21.3 | Watertight doors maintained and inspected (at least weekly at sea) | Portascanner WATERTIGHT |
| IACS watertight-integrity rules | Ultrasonic watertight-integrity testing of hatch covers, read as Open Hatch Value (%OHV) | Portascanner WATERTIGHT |
| IACS UR Z28 | Survey of multi-cable transits (MCTs): all transits examined and the Register maintained (vessels contracted after 1 Jul 2021) | Portascanner WATERTIGHT |
| IMO SOLAS FSS Code, Ch.5 (§2.1.1.3) | Verify fixed-gas agent quantity without moving cylinders from position | Portalevel + Portasteele |
| IMO MSC.1/Circ.1318/Rev.1 | Confirm fixed-gas cylinders hold at least 90% of nominal charge, at least every 2 years | Portalevel + Portasteele |
| NFPA 2001 · ISO 14520 | Gaseous agent / pressure loss kept within the 5–10% threshold | Portalevel (liquefied) · Portagas (inert) |
| BS EN 15317:2013 | Characterisation & verification of ultrasonic thickness equipment | Portagauge 6 |
| Class survey (ABS / RINA / etc.) | Structural thickness & corrosion records through coatings | Portagauge 6 |
Standards and approvals as cited by Coltraco Ultrasonics. Confirm the current applicable revision and your vessel's specific requirements with your class society. Service intervals for fixed-gas cylinders: SOLAS & FSS Code servicing.
The terms, plainly
- Non-invasive
- The sensor sits on the outside surface; nothing is opened, drained, weighed or discharged to take the reading.
- Open Hatch Value (%OHV)
- The Portascanner's measure of how much ultrasound passes through a hatch seal. Below 10% the cover is treated as weathertight.
- Multiple-echo
- A thickness technique that times reflections between the two metal faces, so it reports true steel thickness and ignores paint/coating.
- Intrinsically safe / ATEX Zone 1 & 2
- Certification allowing an instrument to be used in explosive gas atmospheres without a Hot Work Permit; this is the Portalevel IS rating.
- Banked cylinders
- Fire-suppression cylinders stored in rows several deep; reached with the Portalevel extension rod.
- Transit-time
- The ultrasonic flow method the Portasonic and Permaflow use, for clean liquids with gas or solids under 10% of the volume.
- Couplant
- A gel applied between sensor and surface so ultrasound passes into the material instead of reflecting off the air gap.
- Multi-cable transit (MCT)
- A sealed penetration where many cables pass through a bulkhead, a common watertight-integrity weak point that the Portascanner checks.
- Agent weight
- The mass of suppression agent in a cylinder: the figure regulations ask for, derived from a level reading by the Portasteele Calculator.
- Clean agent
- An electrically non-conductive, residue-free gaseous fire-suppression agent such as NOVEC 1230 or FM-200.
Common questions
Why use ultrasonic testing instead of opening, weighing or flooding?
Can one crew member carry out these checks?
Are ultrasonic readings accepted for class and port-state requirements?
Which Coltraco instrument do I need for which job?
Can I order Coltraco instruments through ShipServ?
Keep planning
Portalevel® level indicators
Read a fire-suppression cylinder's liquid level through the wall, with the Portasteele® Calculator for agent weight.
View the range → Watertight integrityPortascanner® hatch cover testing
Hatch covers, watertight doors and MCT seals, read in dB or %OHV.
View the range → Hull thicknessPortagauge® 6 thickness gauge
Remaining steel by multiple echo, through coatings up to 20 mm.
View the gauge → Pipe flowPortasonic® & Permaflow® flow meters
Clamp-on transit-time flow, portable for surveys or fixed for 24/7 monitoring.
View the range → Inert-gas pressurePortagas® pressure monitor
Pressure loss in Inergen®, nitrogen, oxygen and argon cylinders, without discharge.
View Portagas → GuideHatch cover leaks & wet-cargo claims
Why a logged ultrasonic test of every compression point is a claims defence.
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