Editor Martyn Wingrove describes how two accidents, one fatal, has driven the tug industry to rewrite towage safety guidance
The tug industry must do more to improve towage safety by following new best practice guidance. Two accidents, one fatal, investigated by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) have highlighted the deficiencies in towage safety and practices.
In a report published last week, MAIB found that a lack of communication and towage safety equipment led to the girting and capsizing of tug Domingue when it was manoeuvring container ship CMA CGM Simba in Madagascar.
In this accident, the container ship master and pilot used the vessel’s engines to avoid striking a mooring dolphin, but failed to tell the tug crew. Subsequently, the high towing forces caused the tug to be pulled sideways through the water by the towline. It capsized with the loss of two lives.
This accident was similar to the Asterix vessel sinking in 2015, which the MAIB also investigated. In this incident, Solent Towing’s mooring launch capsized while manoeuvring a small chemical tanker in Southampton. The two crew were rescued but the vessel was written off as a total loss.
Both accidents happened because of poor communication between the ship and the assisting vessel. In the case of Domingue, there were no gog rope or bridle and no emergency release mechanisms, which would have saved the tug. On Asterix, the crew were not trained sufficiently in the use of these towage safety equipment.
On the back of these accident reports, the UK’s National Workboat Association, or NWA, is publishing the Towage Good Practice Guide which highlights the importance of using gog ropes, emergency release systems and good communications between ships and tugs.
Details of this will be in the next issue of Tug Technology & Business, which is published in August.
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.