Emergency Towing Booklet (ETB) According to SOLAS II-1, Reg. 3-4 and MSC.1/Circ. 1255
Table of Contents 1 GENERAL DESCRIPTION.. 3 1.1 GENERAL... 3 1.1.1 Flag or Class Aproval......3 1.2 LIMITATION DURING TOWING OPERATIONS.....3 1.3 MASTERS S ACTION....3 1.4 SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS.. 4 2 PRINCIPAL DTAILS.........5 2.1 SHIP....... 5 2.1.1 General Particulars.....5 2.1.2 Radio Equipment........5 2.1.3 Power Supply........5 2.1.4 Existing Towing Equipment...6 2.2 LOCATIONS OF THE ETB.....6 2.3 TRAINING EDUCATION....6 2.4 SUPPORTING DCCUMENTS....7 3 PROCEDURES.. 8 3.1 DECISION MATRIX.....8 3.2 TOWING.....10 3.3 FORECASTLE....10 3.3.1 Towing Pattern 1-F... 10 3.3.2 Towing Pattern 2-F...10 3.4 POOP DECK...10 3.4.1 Towing Pattern 1-A.....10 3.4.2 Towing Pattern 2-A... 10 4 APPENDIX... 11 4.1 CURRENT STATUS 11 4.2 COMMUNICATION BOARD.. 13 4.3 TASKS/DUTIES AND EQUIMEMT.......14
1 General Description 1.1 General This booklet is prepared for use in emergency towing situations in accordance with SOLAS Ch.II-1, Regulation 3-4 and relating MSC.1/Circ.1255. The Companies emergency team should keep a copy of this booklet at hand. A copy should be also kept in an common electronic file format (low res PDF), which will allow time for distribution to the concerned parties. Operators and crew should take into consideration that the nature of an eminency does not allow time for deliberation. Accordingly, the procedures should be practised beforehand. Typical procedures for connecting towing lines are introduced in Section 3 of this booklet. The crew should have good knowledge of equipment stowage location and accessibility. Any identified improvements to stowage arrangements should be implemented. 1.1.1 Flag or Class Approval Neither SOLAS II-1, Reg. 3-4 nor MCS.1/Circ. 1255 requires the ETB to be submitted Flag or Class for approval. 1.2 Limitation during towing operations Not all ships have the same degree of shipboard equipment, so that there may be limits to possible towing procedures. Nevertheless, the intention of of this booklet is to predetermine what can be accomplished. The towing load should not exceed the SWL of deck fittings as shown in this booklet. When heavy weather, where the towing load increases significantly, is forecasted, special considerations are to be paid to towing speed, towing lines arrangements and ship s stability. When the angle of towline around bow or stern chock becomes smaller, the resultant force acting on the chock gets greater. Therefore, towline s fleet angle around chocks should be kept grater than generally than 135 degrees. When the fleet angle is expected to get smaller during tuning operation, etc, towing speed should be sufficiently rated down. Loading points on stand-rollers are so high that great bending moments are generally transferred to the supporting structures, Stand-rollers are not to be used in towing lines arrangements.
1.3 Master s Action 1) The Master of ship or a company representative to recognize that the ship may need towing assistance should make the initial notification of the incident (SOLAS I 11 c) to the following parties. a) Nearest port states b) Flag state c) Other relevant parties (Shipper, Insurer, etc.) 2) The Master should prepare the current status of vessel in order to provide immediately. See Appendix 4.1. 3) All information of this booklet should deliver to the towing ship. 4) The Master should ensure that towing lines do not come tight until towing lines are made-up to the connection system of towing ship and everyone on deck are noted. 5) When power system an board is not available or the towing ship introduces alternative connection procedures, the Master should make best decision considering ship s current status in consolation with the towing ship. 6) When alternative procedures are adopted, any precautions should be well informed to all staffs. 7) The Master should ensure that all survival crafts on board are ready to employment. 1.4 Safety Considerations A risk assessment should be prepared prior operations taking into account: 1) Rescue Boat should be prepared for launching. 2) First Aid Kit to be prepared. 3) The chief Mate on morning deck should be in contact with the Bridge by VHF at all times. 4) Everyone on deck should be equipped with the personnel life saving appliance, and be alert for ships, trips and fall hazards. 5) All crew should be informed well of the work procedures and tasks. 6) When the towing line begins strained in tension, all on-deck staffs should be evacuated to safe location. 7) It is necessary to grease up continuously in order to prevent wear of ropes in chocks when wire ropes are used as towing lines. Wear-out condition in chocks should be constantly checked. 8) Whilst engaged in towing operations the minimum number of crew essential to carry out duties, is to be on deck, and never exposed to a rope or wired under tension or lad. Wherever possible clear deck of crew should be in operation whilst towing.
2 PINCIPAL DETAILS 2.1 Ship 2.1.1 GENERAL PARTICULARS 1 Ship s name 2 Call Sign 3 IMO Number 4 Flag 5 Port of Registry 6 Gross Tonnage 7 LoA/LbP 8 BoA 9 Class and ID 10 Height of mooring deck above keel 11 Draft range 12 Displacement range 2.1.2 Radio Equipment 1 MMSI 2 Inmarst C 3 SAT-Phone 4 SAT-Fax 5 MF/HF 6 VHF 7 email 8 Cell phone 2.1.3 Power Supply 1 AUX 1 2 AUX 2 3 AUX 3 4 Shore Connection 440V 50Hz 200A
2.1.4 Existing Towing Equipment Item Location Details 1 Anchor Winch Forecastle 2 Chain Forecastle 3 Anchor winch Stern 4 Chain/Cable Stern 5 Mooring Winch Stern 6 Special towing equipment n/a 2.2 Locations of the ETB The Emergency Towing Booklet will be stored / filed at 4 locations: 1. On the bridge with ERP and SOPEP 2. At the forecastle 3. In the ships office 4. In the shore office 2.3 Training and Education Education and training to be held (see on board training plan ) covering all crewmembers on board. Training and Education should include: Handling, type, location and quantity of tools and equipment Role of each crew member within towing procedure and other involved parties Location of Emergency Towing Booklet and ECP/ACP Ship specific data s The Training/meeting shall be recorded on a company-designated form and filed in the same way as a safety drill.
2.4 Supporting Documents These documents may be available on board: MSC.1/Circ. 1255 Guidelines for Owners/Operators on Preparing Emergency Towing Procedures MSC/Circ. 11175 Guidelines on Shipboard Towing and Mooring Equipment
3 Procedures This Procedure shows up typical connections for towing lines. Experienced Masters shall implement any identified improvements. Individual on board procedure can deviate from below procedure due to local situation. Rearing drawings and diagrams shall be attached in the Appendix. 3.1 Decision Matrix The towing pattern should be decided by the captain of the ship, in consultation with the captain of the towing ship, by referring the following Decision Matrix. In considering the towing pattern, the ship status and the surroundings conditions (e.g. weather conditions, availability of the propulsion system and of power supply for check machinery and imminent danger of grounding) should be taken into account. The primary towing pattern should be to tow from the bow. If it is not possible to tow from the bow for some reasons such as collision, towing from the stern may be selected as an alternative. Condition In case there is imminent danger such as grounding in a short time; less than 1 hour for instace. Towing pattern f/m the bow f/m the stern 1-F 1-A Remarks In case the towing ship has the sufficient towing force, (1) The pattern 2 (2-F or 2-A9 should be taken, if it is necessary to distribute the towing force into deck fittings (2) However, when there is not enough time to male arrangements for for the pattern2, the pattern 1 may be taken on the conditions that the towing force is controlled not to exceed the strength of the deck fittings. (3) Furthermore, at the later stage, the towing pattern 1 should be changed to the pattern 2 when there is enough time to do so. In case the weather is bad when connecting the towing lines between the ship and the towing ship. 1-F 1-A In case the towing ship has the sufficient towing force, (1) The pattern 2 (1-F or 2-A) should be taken, if it is necessary to distribute the towing force into deck fittings. (2) However, when making arrangements for the pattern 2 may cause danger due to the bad weather, the pattern 1 may be taken on the conditions that the towing force is controlled not to exceed the strength of the deck fittings.
In case there is no power supply for deck machinery to handle the the towing lines. 1-F 1-A In case the towing ship has the sufficient towing force, (1) Pattern 2 (2-F or 2-A) should be taken, if it is necessary to distribute the towing force into deck fittings. (2) However, when there is no choice but to take the pattern 1 for unavoidable reason, the towing force should be controlled not to exceed the strength of deck fittings. In case the duration of being towed is long; more than 1 day for distance. 2-F 2-A If possible, chain should be used.
3.2 Towing Please keep in mind that a salvage will most probably use it s own towing gear and line(s). Below steps is a general guideline to establish a towing line connection and may need to be adjusted to a certain ship type, available equipment and situation. Please note that the salvage Master has the authority to give orders establish the connection. [Step 1] [Step 2] [Step 3] [Step 4] [Step 5] [Step 6] [Step 7] [Step 8] [Step 9] Pull out hawser from the one reel of the mooring winch. Receive the messenger rope from the towing ship. Pass the messenger rope through the chock and he bollard. Wind the messenger rope up in the reel of the mooring winch. Continue to wind up the messenger rope until the eye splice connected with the messenger rope can be hooked on the bollard. Then stop the winch. Wind off the hawser from an available second reel of the winch and connect it to the wire by using a strop chain through a roller fairlead and stand roller. Wind up the hawser in the second reel and keep the tension in the middle of the wire. Wind off the first hawser reel where the messenger rope is connected and separate the wire eye splice from the messenger rope. Hook the eye splice at the end of the wire on the bollard. Or use alternative connecting methods such as figure- 8 knots etc. [Step 10] Detach the strop chain from the towing wire.
3.3 Forecastle 3.3.1 Towing Pattern 1-F 3.3.2 Towing Pattern 2-F 3.4 Poop Deck 3.4.1 Towing Pattern 1-A 3.4.2 Towing Pattern 2-A
4 APPENDIX 4.1 Current Status Information which may/shall provided to towing vessel immediately. Ship IMO: No. Item Current Status Day/Month/Year (1) Present time UTC Time (2) Current position (3) Cause of requesting towage (4) Weather conditions (5) Wind velocity and direction Velocity (m/s) Direction (6) Wave height (m) (7) Weather forecast (8) Drifting speed and direction Speed (kt) Direction (9) Imminent danger (e.g. grounding) (if any, describe the expected danger) (10) Flooding( if any, describe the status) (11) Cargo (if any, describe the type) No Note: YES No Note: YES No Type and Status: Yes (12) Fore draft (m) (13) Aft draft (m) (14) Can be towed from the bow? (15) Can use power on board? Yes Status: Yes Status:
continued Ship IMO: No. Item Current status (16) (17) Can use deck lighting for the towing line connection? Can use the mooring winch for winding the towing line? (18) Can use the mooring equipment on the deck for the towing line connection? (19) Can use towing lights (side lights, stern lights)? (20) Ready to display the black diamond? (21) Can use the rudder (describe the status)? (22) If the rudder is damaged, what is the current rudder angle and is it possible to return to midship? (23) Can use the main engine? (24) Can control the trim? (25) Is there heeling? (26) How to prevent free propeller rotation? (27) Oil leakage from stern tube (if any, describe the status) 4.2 Communication Board Following diagram proposes organizational structure during towing procedure.
BRIDGE TEAM (over-all command of towed ship) Master Towing Vessel Rating Chief Mate Chief Engineer Bosun Oiler Rating ECR (stand by) Rating TASK UNIT (mooring deck) 4.3 Tasks/Duties and Equipment Title Task/Duty Life Saving Equipment Master Command on bridge Necessary Equipment Portable On-Deck Radio Tool
Chief Master Bosun Towing preparation fwd or aft station Establish first / final connection as per C/Ms orders AB Assisting Bosun at station AB/OS Looking on bridge OS Assisting AB at station Chief Engineer In ECR Oiler/Wiper Assisting C/E in ER