Hatch Cover Weathertightness: Pre-Loading Inspection Checklist

Wet damage to a cargo that was loaded dry, in a hold with covers that passed a glance from the deck, is one of the most common and most expensive findings in cargo claims work. The reason is that weathertightness is a mechanical system, not a rubber seal, and the parts of it that fail are mostly not the parts that are easy to see.

This checklist is for a pre-loading inspection of steel hatch covers on a dry cargo vessel. Work through it hold by hold with the covers both closed and open, and record findings per hatch and per panel rather than per vessel.

When this inspection is carried out

Before loading, as part of a pre-loading or hold condition survey, and before any hose or ultrasonic test is performed. The mechanical condition determines what a test result means: a cover that passes a test while badly out of compression is a cover that will pass until the first heavy weather.

Repeat it, at least in summary, before departure if the covers have been opened and closed repeatedly during loading.

Covers closed and secured

Start here, because this is the condition the cargo will cross an ocean in.

• Confirm the covers are fully closed and that all securing devices — cleats, wedges, quick-acting cleats, hydraulic locks — are engaged and bearing, not merely in place.
• Check that cleats are evenly tensioned. A row in which some are hard and others slack indicates a panel that is not seating flat.
• Look along the cross-joints for a visible gap or a step between panels. A step means the panels are not level and the cross-joint seal cannot compress evenly.
• Confirm the panel-to-panel cross-joint wedges are present, in place, and not distorted or worn into a rounded profile.
• Check the compression bar along the coaming for distortion, wastage, corrosion scale or a wavy line. It is the surface the packing seals against, and a deformed bar cannot be sealed against with any rubber.
• Sight down the length of the coaming for deformation, particularly at the corners and near grab damage.
• Confirm all hatch cover cleat pads, nuts and washers are present and not wasted through.

Packing and its channel

Open the covers and examine the packing over its whole length. This is the part of the inspection that takes time and is worth the time.

• Check the packing for hardening, cracking, splitting, permanent set, tearing, or sections that have come out of the channel.
• Look for sections of packing that have been renewed piecemeal and now sit at a different height from the adjoining material. A mismatched joint is a leak path even when both pieces are sound.
• Check the joints in the packing itself — butt joints at the corners are a recurring failure point.
• Examine the packing channel for corrosion, scale, hardened old adhesive, cargo residue, rust scale or standing water. A channel filled with residue holds the packing proud of its seat.
• Confirm the packing is the correct section and profile for the channel. A section too small cannot be compressed; too large and it prevents the cover from seating on the steel-to-steel contact.
• Check that the packing is retained as designed — glued, mechanically retained, or held by a retaining bar as the maker specifies — and not simply pressed in.

Compression

This is the item most often skipped, and the one that most often explains a leak.

• Look for a continuous, even indentation line on the packing where the compression bar has borne on it. An intermittent or absent line indicates the cover was not in compression along that section.
• Check for over-compression: packing crushed flat, extruded sideways, or with the compression bar having cut into it. Over-compressed packing loses its elasticity and does not recover.
• Confirm the steel-to-steel contact between cover and coaming is being achieved where the design relies on it, and that the design compression is not being taken entirely by the rubber.
• Where the maker’s manual specifies a residual clearance or a packing indentation, measure it and record the figure against the specified value. Do not substitute a general rule of thumb for the maker’s figure for that design.
• Check the cover bearing pads, resting pads and stoppers for wastage. Worn pads let the panel sit lower than designed, which changes compression everywhere.

Drainage

A coaming drain that does not drain is a reservoir sitting directly above the cargo.

• Trace every drain channel and confirm it is clear along its full length, not just at the opening.
• Clear and check the drain holes and pipes. Cargo residue, paint, rust scale and stray packing material are the usual blockages.
• Check the non-return valves or drain fittings. Confirm they are present, intact, free to operate, and not seized or fitted the wrong way round.
• Confirm the cross-joint drain arrangements are clear where fitted, and that water reaching them has somewhere to go.
• Where drains discharge internally, confirm the route does not deliver water into the hold.

Coaming, structure and fittings

• Check the coaming top plate and coaming stays for corrosion, cracking, buckling and grab damage.
• Check the hatch cover panels themselves for indentation from grabs, cracked plating, corroded stiffeners and loose or missing bolts.
• Examine the hatch cover wheels, rollers, chains, sprockets and guides for wear that would prevent correct seating.
• Confirm the hydraulic system holds pressure and that there is no leakage onto the packing or into the hold.
• Check the small access hatches, manholes and ventilators on the covers to the same standard as the main covers. They are a common leak path and they are routinely overlooked.
• Where the vessel carries tarpaulins, battens and wedges as a secondary arrangement, confirm they are on board and serviceable.

Testing

Once the mechanical condition is established, a tightness test tells you whether there is a leak path.

• Record which test method was used, who performed it, and under what conditions.
• Where ultrasonic testing is used, record the equipment, the operator’s qualification, and the readings per panel and per cross-joint rather than a single figure per hatch.
• Where hose testing is used, record the nozzle pressure, distance and the direction of application, and note that a hose test detects water passing through but does not locate a marginal path that only opens under working conditions.
• Note that a chalk test demonstrates contact and compression, not tightness. It is a useful supplement, not a substitute.
• A passing test on a cover with the defects listed above is not evidence of weathertightness; record both findings.

What to record and photograph

For each hatch, and for each panel where the condition differs:

• Overall view of the closed cover showing cross-joints and cleats.
• The packing along its length, with close views of any defect and of the indentation line.
• The compression bar, including any deformation or wastage, with a scale in frame.
• The packing channel condition, including any residue or standing water.
• Drain channels, drain holes and non-return valves, before and after clearing.
• Any grab damage, with the panel identified.
• The measurements taken, with the maker’s specified figure alongside each.

Photograph with something in frame that gives scale, and record the hatch and panel identity in the frame or in the caption. A photograph that cannot be located to a specific panel six months later has limited value in a claim.

When an item fails

• Record it specifically: hatch number, panel, position along the coaming, and the nature of the defect. “Hatch 3 packing defective” is not a finding; “Hatch 3, aft panel, port side, packing hardened and out of channel over approximately 1.2 m forward of the cross-joint” is.
• Report it to the master in writing and obtain an acknowledgement.
• Where the defect affects the suitability of the hold for the intended cargo, say so plainly in the report and issue a letter of protest if the vessel proposes to load regardless.
• Where the defect is made good, re-inspect and record the repair, the materials used and the date — do not simply note that it was attended to.

Documents produced

• Hold and hatch cover condition report, per hatch.
• Photographic record, indexed to hatch and panel.
• Test records, with method, operator and readings.
• Letter of protest, where the condition warrants it.
• Master’s acknowledgement of the findings.

Basis of this checklist

The items above reflect the elements of a hatch cover securing and tightness arrangement identified by IACS in Recommendation No. 14, together with the failure modes described in P&I club loss prevention guidance.

The status of these items is worth being precise about. The maintenance and condition of closing appliances is the vessel’s obligation under the applicable convention and class requirements. The specific acceptance criteria — residual clearance, permitted packing indentation, wastage limits — come from the hatch cover maker’s manual for that design and from the classification society’s requirements, not from a general industry figure. IACS Recommendation No. 14 is, as its title says, a recommendation: it is guidance to class and industry rather than a mandatory instrument in itself.

Where a charter party or a trade’s rules impose a testing requirement before loading, that obligation is contractual and sits alongside, not instead of, the vessel’s own obligations.