Passarelle & gangway control systems

How a control fault is traced

On a remote-controlled passarelle, a single movement lost while the others still operate indicates a control fault rather than a hydraulic one, since a failed pump or ram affects every function. The fault is isolated to the control board output for that movement, its limit switch, or the solenoid that operates it. Each movement is followed through the board, input and output, from both the handset and the panel, before any component is replaced.

Testing is carried out at the berth with the vessel afloat and berthed stern-to, which is the condition the system operates in. Travel, end stops and interlocks are run against the quay at working angle and from both the remote and the panel, because a unit that cycles correctly unobstructed can still stop short under the angle and load it meets in service.

Scope of work

Remote control receivers & handsets

Receivers, aerials and handset pairing checked where a remote-controlled passarelle answers intermittently, at close range only, or not at all — including the supply to the receiver, which is a more common cause than the handset itself.

Control board & relay sequencing

Each movement followed through the board input by input and output by output, so a function that receives its command but never energises is separated from one that was never commanded.

Limit & proximity switches

Stowed, deployed and end-of-travel switches tested individually — a single failed switch stops travel in one direction and leaves every other movement working normally.

Lock, release & swivel solenoids

Coil resistance and holding voltage measured at the solenoid itself, which separates an open coil from a supply that collapses under load.

Tread lighting & call points

Passarelle lighting, courtesy strips and any call or intercom point on the boarding position, all of which sit on circuits that get wet and are usually the first to corrode.

Tender garage & hatch interlocks

Interlock chains proven end to end and emergency manual overrides confirmed to release under load — tested rather than assumed, since that is the circuit that matters when the powered one has failed.

Diagram of passarelle and gangway control components: radio receiver with status LED and four-pin connector, split cable, gangway electronic junction box on 12/24 V DC, and the button control panel at the helm or transom

Attendance sequence

Phase	Stage	Actions and deliverables
01	Symptoms by message	Vessel, berth, and which movements still work — the ones that do narrow the fault faster than the one that does not. Whether it fails from the remote, the panel or both.
02	Berth-side diagnostic	Control board followed input to output for each movement, limit and proximity switches tested individually, solenoid coils and motor current measured under load.
03	Written plan	Which circuit or component is at fault, what is repaired against what is replaced, and the manual override procedure in the meantime. Where the fault is hydraulic or structural, it is handed back as such.
04	Work, test, document	Circuits repaired, then every movement and both end stops run through their full travel from remote and panel, with the emergency override tested last. Readings and photographs issued.

What is measured

A passarelle fault is confirmed as electrical, or handed back as mechanical, on readings taken while the system is live and under load. A control circuit that reads clean at rest says very little about one that fails part way through a movement.

Board input and output, per movement

Each function checked at both ends of the board. A command arriving with nothing leaving is a board or output fault; nothing arriving is the remote, the panel or an interlock upstream.

Limit and proximity switch continuity

Measured at the switch, through its full travel, rather than inferred from where the passarelle happens to stop.

Solenoid coil resistance & holding voltage

Coil measured cold, then voltage checked at the coil while it is asked to hold — a supply that sags under load fails only when it is working, which is what makes it hard to find.

Motor current under load

Drawn current compared against the rating, which separates a control fault from a mechanism that is binding and pulling the motor into overload.

Where this work is carried out

Attended at the berth across the North Adriatic, including the ACI marinas at Umag, Rovinj and Pula where stern-to berthing is standard.

Croatia Pula, Rovinj, Vrsar, Poreč, Umag, Novigrad

Slovenia Izola, Koper, Portorož

Italy Trieste, Muggia

Questions asked most often

The passarelle extends but will not swivel or lower. Is the hydraulic pump failing?

Usually not. A failed pump affects every movement, so a single unresponsive function indicates the opposite — the control board output for that movement, its limit switch, or the solenoid that operates it. Each movement is followed through the board input to output, which separates a command that never arrived from one that arrived and never energised.

Do you service the hydraulics — pump, rams and seals?

No. The scope here is electrical and control: remotes and receivers, the control board and its relays, limit and proximity switches, solenoids, lighting and interlocks. Hydraulic pump rebuilds, ram reseals and structural or metalwork repairs are a separate trade. Where a fault turns out to be mechanical it is identified as such and handed back, rather than worked on.

The remote works sometimes and not others. Is it the handset?

Less often than expected. Intermittent response is more commonly the receiver, its aerial or the supply feeding it than the handset itself, and a receiver that browns out under load will answer at close range and fail at the passerelle end of the deck. Receiver supply, aerial and pairing are checked before anything is replaced.

Does the vessel need to be hauled out for this work?

No. Passarelle and tender garage control faults are worked at the berth with the vessel afloat, which is also the only place the system can be tested the way it is actually used — stern-to, against the quay, through its full travel.

Passarelle & gangway controls