Fresh water supply to ships at Gulf ports: delivery, quality and tariffs

The WHO Guide to Ship Sanitation describes the two routes: water delivered by hoses on the dockside, or transferred to the ship by water boats or barges. Designated filling hoses must be provided at each pier or wharf for ships that do not carry their own.^[1]

• Alongside, from the quay hydrant. Usually the cheapest litre, but only while the ship is at berth — and port rules can price it by purpose of call. At the Fujairah oil terminals fresh water is supplied by pipeline.^[9]
• By water barge, alongside or at anchor. A barge costs more because a boat, crew and transfer are added. Saudi Arabia’s port fees law prices the two routes separately.^[4]
• At anchorage. At Fujairah, water barges are utility boats working out of the service harbour, and a bulk fresh-water request is addressed to the Control Tower, which arranges supply at the bulk fresh-water area of the new service harbour. See our anchorage delivery guide for the boat rules.^[9,10]

These are the rates we found in official tariff documents we could open. They are port charges for water supplied by the port; a supplier’s delivered price — barge, boat and margin included — is a different number.

Other tariffs publish no water price. DP World’s 2023 tariff for Jebel Ali and Mina Rashid says fresh water may be bought from the port operator’s nominated suppliers, subject to availability, at the suppliers’ rates; it also obliges the vessel or its agent to give port personnel servicing the ship sufficient drinking water free of charge, cold or with ice in summer. Bahrain’s 2023 ports tariff charges BHD 55 per item per day for a "no objection" for fuel or fresh water supply, not the water itself. The Sohar 2023/24 and Kuwait Ports Authority tariffs we read have no water entry.^[5,6,7,8]

The WHO Guide to Ship Sanitation (3rd edition, 2011) treats water as a supply chain — port source, shore distribution, transfer and delivery, ship system — with the entity responsible for each part preparing a water safety plan for it. Guideline 2.1 expects a plan for the port water source, for the water boats or barges, and for the delivery system to the ship. Port operators and water suppliers should keep supply safe through to delivery, monitor it, share sampling results and correct problems.^[1]

• Source: water only from supplies that meet the WHO drinking-water guidelines or national standards, whichever are stricter.^[1]
• Hydrants marked "POTABLE WATER", no connection to other piping, and approved backflow preventers between ship and shore.^[1]
• Hoses: never firefighting hoses; marked "POTABLE WATER", ends capped when not in use, flushed before connection, drained and dried after use, stored in a locker marked for potable hoses only. The ship’s filling line is typically blue and labelled "POTABLE WATER FILLING".^[1]
• Residual: a disinfectant residual should be detectable at the port, on the barge and on the ship; at the point of delivery free chlorine should be at least 0.2 mg/l, and ideally between 0.2 and 5 mg/l.^[1]
• Microbiology: no E. coli or thermotolerant coliforms in any 100 ml sample. Tests typically take 18–24 hours to report, so a sample at delivery confirms quality after the ship may have sailed.^[1]

Barge operators must keep hoses, fittings and tools in closed, clean lockers and know water hygiene; if water is contaminated, the party responsible for the transfer must act and notify the ship’s operator as soon as possible. The ship’s own duty sits in the Maritime Labour Convention: Regulation 3.2 requires drinking water of appropriate quality and quantity, and Standard A3.2 calls for frequent documented inspections of drinking-water supplies and storage.^[1,11]

We found no official Gulf port or agency page that states a notice period for fresh water, so we give none. In practice the barge or the hydrant slot is the constraint: ask as soon as the ETA and ETB are known, and confirm the window through your port agent.

• Quantity in tonnes, with any minimum the port applies (Salalah: 10 t per delivery for ships other than dhows).^[3]
• Delivery method: alongside by hose, by barge at berth, or at anchorage — and the anchorage area.
• Purpose of call, where the tariff prices it (Fujairah charges more to ships calling only for bunkers, stores or water).^[2]
• Quality evidence you want: the supplier’s latest test results and a chlorine reading at delivery.
• Ship’s connection size and whether the barge must bring its own potable hose.

Put water on its own line, separate from stores, so quotes compare like for like — the rest of the order follows our requisition guide. Port detail is on our Fujairah, Khor Fakkan, Salalah and Rabigh pages, or e-mail the requisition and suppliers at the port price it.