After a death
Cleaning after a death
On board inside a port-call window, or in a home ashore. The method is the same; the two calendars have nothing in common.
On board
Cabin, alleyway, pantry, crew space. In principle it is the same work as ashore — surface decontamination, treatment of porous materials, odour removal, final check — but all of it happens in a tight volume, on ventilation that is not ours, inside a window the port call has already fixed.
Personal effects are not touched. They are the master's responsibility under the company's procedures, which are precise and which protect the family. We work after that step is settled, never before, and we confirm it in writing to the ship's agent.
In a home ashore
A flat or a house, at the request of a family, a notary, a landlord or a managing agent. The calendar then depends only on the situation: authorisation from whoever holds the right to the property, decisions on belongings, and the availability of those who must be present.
Discretion is part of the job: unmarked vehicle, no equipment left standing in the common parts, and nothing said to the neighbours. We hand over a written record of what was treated.
What the work covers
Decontamination
Surfaces, contact points, the immediate surroundings.
Porous materials
Mattress, textiles, linings, coverings: treated or removed depending on condition.
Odour removal
The source first, then the air. Never masking.
Sign-off
Joint inspection on board, written record ashore.
What governs the lead time
On board, the named port access pass and the port-call window: the application goes in several working days ahead, and it is that — not our workload — that fixes the date. Ashore, there is no access lead time; we work to your availability.
What we will not do
We enter no enclosed space, and we do not touch personal effects until whoever is entitled has decided. We make no legally binding findings: we describe what we treated, and nothing more.
Questions about this service
- Are personal effects touched?
- Never before the question is settled. On board it is the master's decision under the company's procedures. Ashore it rests with the family, the notary or the appointed representative. We work afterwards, and we say so in writing.
- How long is the property unusable?
- It depends on the materials. Hard surfaces can be handed back the same day; a mattress or a saturated lining has to be removed and then dried, and the property is not handed back before the final check. We give the duration at the survey, not afterwards.
Give us the window.