Cleaning chemicals suppliers for ships: what vessels order and what to send with it

Three people usually raise this section. The chief officer orders hold cleaners for bulk carriers and general cargo ships; the chief or second engineer orders engine-room degreasers, boiler and descaling chemicals and the potable-water disinfectant; the chief steward or cook orders galley and accommodation cleaners. That split is industry practice rather than a rule, but it decides who reads your quote.

Hold cleaners are driven by MARPOL Annex V. The IMO guidelines allow cleaning agents and additives in hold wash water to be discharged into the sea “so long as they are not harmful to the marine environment”, and the ship must keep records that show it.^[1,2]

A product counts as harmful if it meets the MARPOL Annex III criteria for a harmful substance or contains carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic components. Inside special areas the wash water may go overboard only en route, at least 12 nautical miles from land, and only when the departure and destination ports are in the same special area.^[2]

Tank-cleaning additives on chemical and product tankers are a separate regime. The Netherlands inspectorate notes that assessed additives are listed in Annex 10 of the latest MEPC.2/Circular, and that manufacturers must have them assessed before placing them on the market.^[3]

Drinking-water disinfectant — the Hadex group — is bought because the WHO Guide to Ship Sanitation calls for chlorination of all potable water as it is loaded, to a free chlorine residual of at least 0.5 mg/l after 30 minutes’ contact at a pH below 8.0, with test kits for pH and chlorine kept on board. Tanks that are repaired or contaminated must be cleaned, disinfected and flushed before going back into service.^[4]

Flag states write this into their own rules. Portugal, for one, requires drinking water tested on board every six months, chlorine and pH among the parameters, with records kept for port state control.^[5]

IMPA section 55 is small by item count but ordered constantly. Marine maintenance chemicals are its largest group: hold cleaners, degreasers, descalers, rust removers and the technical cleaning liquids engineers specify by name. Common chemicals — solvents such as toluene, caustic soda, acids — come next, then the galley detergents, sanitary items, floor products and the hand and laundry soaps the steward reorders every port.

A requisition names the IMPA code and a pack size — litres per can, kilograms per drum. For maintenance chemicals the engineer often writes a brand or an “equivalent to”, so state plainly whether you are quoting the named product or an alternative.

Price per the canonical unit on the line — per litre, per kilogram or per can as the buyer posted it — and give pack size and number of packs, so a 20-litre drum and four 5-litre cans compare. Name the UN number and hazard class for anything that travels as dangerous goods; the delivery launch and the ship’s crew both need to know before it arrives.

Crews refer to the SDS before using any hazardous substance, to pick their PPE and working method, and the code warns that mixing a chlorine-based cleaner with a descaler releases a hazardous gas. A supplier whose SDS arrives with the goods saves the chief officer a chase.^[7]

On GeoMarineHub, choose section 55 among your categories and activate the ports you deliver to; lines from the section posted there reach you and you bid sealed. Buyers working on water quality also read our fresh water supply guide. Register as a supplier — free.