The biggest industry today is the sea transport industry as it runs the biggest share in the import and export worth billions of dollars every day. The sea transport industry is one of the most widespread and the global trade would simply collapse without it. But there is a huge doom that looms over this industry which causes it to lose almost half of its profits every year in the form of claims and damages. A transport ship carries a majority of its goods inside its cargo holds which are huge chambers on the inside of its body. Just below the deck, there are huge halls where the goods are stored in an arranged manner to travel to their destination ports.

These cargo holds are sealed by hatch covers which act as a roof. Since the cargo holds are under the deck, it is important to cover them after the goods have been placed. Unfortunately the rough treatment they receive creates holes and leaks in them and water manages to seep inside the cargo holds through them. Hence the  cable transit areas watertight testing allows the crew to learn beforehand about the damage that can happen during the voyage due to the leaks and holes in the hatch covers.

The testing is a procedure to find out the holes and leaks in the hatch covers and it is not only to assess if there are holes and leaks, but this procedure pinpoints the location of the holes and leaks. The procedure is simple and effective and it begins with the small generator, a part of the ultrasonic leak detector kit, to be placed inside the cargo holds and closing the hatch covers. As the generator is turned on, it starts emitting ultrasonic wave pulses which are not able to penetrate the metal walls and are thus blocked inside. The moment they find a hole or a leak, the waves start escaping through it and this is when the receiver picks up the location of the leak.

The hatch covers maintenance and watertight integrity testing is one of the most accurate method of finding hidden leaks and holes in a ship’s body. Through this testing the crew can learn about the number and location of the leaks in their ship. The situation can then be assessed to determine if sailing for a voyage with the holes and leaks present would be profitable or not. If the odds are against the sailing, then the ship is sent for repairs before setting sail or the goods will be damaged during the voyage and the shipping company would be at a loss rather than profit against the voyage.