The biggest industry is under constant criticism due to the lack of security of the goods inside its cargo holds. In many cases the goods are getting wet and damaged during the voyages. The reason for the goods to get wet during the voyages is the leaking hatch covers. The lack of hatch cover maintenance and watertight integrity testing makes room for rust to grow and spread all over the hatch covers. As the rust spreads over the hatch covers it starts eating away the metal creating holes which weaken the tightness of the hatch covers. As these covers are weakened, they start losing their tightness and the cargo holds no longer remain water tight.

The problem of leaking ship parts is not new. In fact, this problem has prevailed since the very first ship was made. In the olden times the ships were made of wood but still the hinges and the other pivotal parts of the ship were made of iron. The iron would catch rust quickly and then there was no stopping it until it created a hole big enough for the water to seep inside. In the olden times, there was no means of ultrasonic hatch cover testing and the only way to test for holes in a ship was to put more water on it.

Using pails of water to douse the ship completely with water, the holes were found but the huge amount of water created more rust on the ship’s metal parts and hence they grew weaker. As today’s ships are made of metal, it is never advised to use the old method because the risk of creating rust to the parts where it does not exist is heightened. The new rust starts working on its own and it starts spreading to the areas which were clean before the water hose testing.

Apart from just focusing on the hatch covers, it is also important to keep an out for the rust to form on other components such as the doors and other metal objects. With the ultrasound watertight compartment doors testing, the holes can be found easily where water hose testing completely fails because water can never stand still on a door and would simply flood the compartment. With the help of the ultrasonic leak detector, the doors can be easily checked and the chance of water entering the other compartments is easily wiped out.