Gloves should always be used when handling wire ropes due
to the possibility of hand injury arising from
broken wires.
At least in 1970 the Navy told us “Better get torn by a meat hook than dragged through a chock by one.” Is that passe’?
Some vessels are fitted with winches that have
a self tensioning or automatic mode. It is
recommended that these are not used in the
self tensioning mode when connected to a
shore manifold or when space ahead and
astern is limited, as there have been instances
of vessels creeping along berths due to the
prevailing environmental conditions.
Ha! Like sleeping with a cat that likes to snuggle. You wake up falling off the side.
The busy ports on the west coast generally have much newer equipment than the east coast, though that’s changing gradually. The less busy ports still have old shitty equipment though
Most, if not all, of those fine tugs you see around the world were designed by an American, Robert Allen. His tugs were a quantum improvement over the generation of tugs before them. I’ve seen Allen tugs in Canada, Ireland, UK, and Italy. For a pilot. seeing one of those tugs come your way for a job was as good as it got.
EDIT: Turns out Robert Allen is Canadian. My sincere apologies to my northern neighbors. (I like to think we are all “Americans” on his side of the pond.)
There is no “one” way to let tugs go. Older tugs often do not have a winch forward or maybe just a slow capstan. They have a crew member standing under the line who will pull it through the bullnose as it’s lowered. If the crew drops this line it has the potential to injure or kill the man on deck (actually had a fatality like this in Houston). At best the crewman will have to pull 30-50’ feet of wet line back up on deck by hand. You won’t make any friends there.
The newer tractor tugs have heavier lines on a fast winch. They mostly prefer that the line be dropped.
As a pilot I hated the discrepancy since it made it more likely that the crew would drop the line on an older tug. When I was a mate I always, always, looked over the side and made contact with the crew on deck and agreed on how we were to let go - and when. As a pilot I tried to talk to the tug captain and pass his/her preferences on to the captain.
You, Mr. Mate, need to step up and take some responsibility for the accident you describe. If you are tending the tag line you are not standing at the rail in communication with and watching the tug crew and your crew. Neither the Captain nor the Pilot can see the situation as well as you can.
Pretty safe to say, just don’t dump the line overboard unless you’re specifically told to by the Pilot and/or Master. Great way to incense all parties and potentially kill or maim someone.
And yeh, the Mate oughta be at the rail spotting the line and the tug. If tug takes off astern or line starts coming up tight, you tell your men to get clear.
BTW, yeh US flag deep-sea ships love to callously toss the line overboard…
One of the tug companies used to give these pamphlets out in Antwerp. When all else fails, try cartoons. They’re the real international language.
It’s dangerous for all parties to just let a line go. It is not a good practice. I’ve seen a fair bit of damage to things like fire hydrants when a messenger caught it and tore it off the deck. Best to lower easy unless asked to do otherwise.
Simple instructions are awesome and cartoon instructions are the best. The Egyptians had this figured out.
Even the dumbest terrorist stoned on pure Afghan heroin can learn how to use a grenade launcher in a jiffy when cartoonish instructions are etched on the side of the stock.
True democracy in action.
In my experience it’s always the messenger line that causes the problems.
Once the tug is made fast the messenger is going to be in a pile next to the windlass. It should laid out next to the tug line and the excess coiled up and left next to the chock that is being used for the tug line.
Before the tug is let go take enough line to reach the windlass and leave the bitter end and the rest by the chock. Have the crew that lifts the line off the bitts stay on one side of the line opposite from the where the messenger is.
Once the process of getting the tug line off the bitts is done and before lowering whatever part of the messenger is not needed should be between the chock and the bitt. Typically it can be flicked over by the crew member at the bitts.
This was the crew is ready either way, lower slowly or release. The mate should be at the rail.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In other words, this guy should not have the messenger line behind him. It should be laying next to the tug line, leaving only what he needs. Otherwise if the line has to be dropped all the line behind him is going to go whipping around.
A simpler version; excess line including the bitter end of the messenger should be coiled next to the chock being used for the tug line. The part of the messenger line needed to let go the tug should be laid out and handled in such a way that nobody is in the bight.
This is from a report on an injury while letting go a tug:MFame Checks before letting go the tug. AB and 2/M were lifting the eye off the bitt and the line came under strain. AB got his hand caught between the line and bitt.
There are five crew back there. Almost always in routine situations if there is a task not getting done there is also a crew member not doing anything. Second mate should be at the rail, not helping with the line.
Here is a simulation of the incident.
In this situation the ship does not have control of the strain on the line, the tug does. In this case nobody was watching the tug. Nobody at the rail.
Whenever possible I would caution the AB’s to work the line from the tension side or throat of the eye and never get their fingers between the line and steel. Once you have the eye started over the lip of the bit you can push it the rest of the way with your palms and then back away. Good seamanship takes attentiveness, practice, and someone willing to teach it. That person should be the officer in charge who is watching out for everyone on the mooring station including themselves.
Not standing in the bight is not the problem. The problem is if the tug line is taken in too fast and. or the tug backs wildly not allowing to use a round turn of messenger line on the bits, the messenger will slap and slither like a snake as it is pulled through the chock and if it hits anyone’s ankle/ calf/ leg will wrap around like a lasso and pull said member-crewman through the chock. Years ago my AB would have lost his leg and his life most likely as the messenger line wrapped around his ankle and threatened to pull him through the chock if I had not instinctively cut it with my Spyderco knife, That episode still gives me chills to this day as I am writing this. It happened so fast the details became a blur afterwards. That AB became my “buddy” for the rest of the voyage.
