. FEATURES OF TUGBOATS STABILITY CONTROL IN MANEUVERING ON THE SHELF

https://doi.org/10.33815/2313-4763.2019.1.20.040-046

Abstract

Recently, operations on the shelf for the installation and maintenance of drilling platforms, elements of non-traditional types of energy, laying and maintenance of underwater pipelines, cables, etc. have received great development. In the process of performing such operations, the seaworthiness of ships, their maneuvering, are significantly different from the maneuvering of ordinary transport ships. This also applies to the requirements and control of the state of stability when carrying out operations for towing and handling anchors. In recent years, several serious accidents have occurred, causing death and loss of ships. The main cause of these accidents was the loss of stability and the overturning of vessels due to a sharp increase in the tension of the towing cable in the traverse direction, as well as the “human element” that led the operations, but allowed the development of the girding process, which led to an emergency outcome. The complexity of the specific work of offshore tugs should be well understood and explainable not only to tug operators, but also to navigators of towed objects, who often become witnesses, and often passive accomplices of the tragedy. Knowledge and understanding of the technical processes occurring in tugboats when towing would allow towers of towed objects or auxiliary vessels involved in towing, in the event of a risk of girding, to be included directly in the towing processes, to actively influence the safety of the situation by actively slowing the object, if the object is self-propelled, anchor or anchors are handed down, the steering wheel is relocated to change course or braking.

IMO, leading classification societies have tightened the stability requirements for vessels participating in such operations, and issued a number of documents regulating safety issues. Thus, the requirements for taking into account the heeling moment from the tension of the towing cable, for limiting the angle of heel from the tension of the towing cable, for the maximum tension of the cable, for emergency recoil of the towing cable in a dangerous situation were regulated. Recommendations for the prevention of the situation of girding and out of it are developed.

It should also be emphasized that the educational process of training marine specialists on the problem under study is set aside, while the activities of IMO, the world's leading classification communities and organizations - partners in joint development of fields and hydrocarbon production are continuously focused on the development of safety issues. The necessity of including the section “Ship stability when performing towing work and anchor handling” in the educational programs of maritime educational institutions is substantiated.