Every day a new company is formed in almost every country of this planet and it results in the increase in demand for trade among the different countries. Hence the need for the shipping industry becomes even greater and the pressure builds up even more on the ships which are already in action. As the transport ships of today are already booked with orders and deliveries to the different destinations around the globe, they have little time left to be spent on maintenance. Most of the ships running about the oceans are in a battered state as their hatch covers are leaking and demand immediate repair.

Applying the repairs to leaking hatch covers is not something out of this world, but the lacking of time to have them completed is the main issue. Today as the checking of tightness of hatch with ultrasound has become a reality, the process is become easy and fast and can be done in the nick of the time without hassles. Unfortunately many of the ship owners and managers are still unaware if its usefulness and they are still stuck with the old hose pipe method which is the reason that even though the ultrasonic hatch cover tester exists, many ship owners do not know the location of leaks in the ships and hatch covers.

Let me briefly explain what this test really is. Everyone knows about the presence of leak in a ship’s hatch covers once water is discovered inside the cargo holds. But the exact knowledge of where and how many leaks is impossible to judge because one great hole can let enough water to enter as a dozen smaller ones. So the exact number of leaks becomes unsure and where the location of this hole or holes is also a mystery because everything seems normal to the human eye when inspected.

Tightness testing of hatch covers with ultrasound reveals these answers as the device is able to find the exact location of holes. As the scanner passes over the hole, the ultrasonic pulse is heard on the headphones and the area can be confirmed to have a leak. The device is also able to let the tester get a fair idea about the size of the hole as the bigger the hole would be, higher would be the pitch of the ultrasound pulse. Hence the person conducting the test can learn both about the location and the size of the holes and the repair work could be started without any delays.