Abstract
It is a well-known fact that the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster caused the escort towing of laden tankers in many coastal areas of the world to become compulsory. In order to implement a new type of escort towing, specially designed to be employed in very adverse weather conditions, considerable changes in the hull form of escort tugs had to be made to improve their stability and performance. Since traditional winch and ropes technologies were only effective in calm waters, tugs had to be fitted with new devices. These improvements allowed the remodeled tugs to counterbalance the strong forces generated by the maneuvers in open waters. The aim of this paper is to perform a comprehensive literature review of the new high-performance automatic dynamic winches. Furthermore, a thorough analysis of the best available technologies regarding towline, essential to properly exploit the new winches, will be carried out. Through this review, the way in which the escort towing industry has faced this technological challenge is shown.
Highlights
Introduction published maps and institutional affilShip handling operations, traditionally focused around protected waters, had led to little attention being paid to open or unprotected water conditions formerly [1]
Especially as a result of the catastrophic oil spill from the grounding of the Exxon Valdez in 1989 and, more recently, the opening of new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals in exposed ocean conditions, escort towing development has triggered an ongoing demand of authorities and offshore terminal operators to increase the performance of pure escort and offshore terminal tugs [2,3]
The tug industry has responded by developing a new generation of high-tech escort tugs [4,5,6]
Summary
Traditionally focused around protected waters, had led to little attention being paid to open or unprotected water conditions formerly [1]. Especially as a result of the catastrophic oil spill from the grounding of the Exxon Valdez in 1989 and, more recently, the opening of new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals in exposed ocean conditions, escort towing development has triggered an ongoing demand of authorities and offshore terminal operators to increase the performance of pure escort and offshore terminal tugs [2,3]. The tug industry has responded by developing a new generation of high-tech escort tugs [4,5,6].
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