Tugboats & Towing – Page 278 – Professional Mariner

22 Mar

Towing winches: Brute machines for offshore tugs

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towing

Aside from those massive diesel engines, the real brute force found at the heart of every offshore tugboat is its towing winch. Almost nothing is towed in offshore waters without a towing winch. And no matter how modern the rest of a tug's equipment, the towing winch has changed little from its original design. The winches that get all…

01 Mar

Compelling electronic displays may have contributed to collision

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towing

Over-reliance on an electronically integrated navigation system by an inadequately trained operator may have played a significant role in a collision between Atlantic Huron and the Canadian Coast Guard buoy tender Griffon in September 2000, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has concluded. The collision occurred on western Lake Erie at night in good visibility. The Coast Guard vessel was…

28 Feb

Integrating AIS with other bridge electronics

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Tugboats & Towing

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) was originally conceived as a safety and navigation aid for ships at sea. Mandated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and implemented and enforced by member states, AIS provides information otherwise unavailable to a crew. AIS transponders act as conduits for information about a vessel, gathering both dynamic data about a ship, such as position,…

28 Feb

In response to terror concerns, AIS website limits access to live data

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towing

A British-based company has stopped offering on its free website live, detailed automatic identification system (AIS) data gathered from networks worldwide after a shipping organization complained terrorists or pirates could use the information to endanger shipping. AIS Live Ltd., a Dutch-British company decided to limit vessel information on its public website and restrict the more detailed service to annual subscribers,…

28 Feb

AIS makes its presence felt

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towing

It's one of the most revolutionary developments in marine navigation: the universal automatic identification system (AIS). The transponder broadcasts a broad range of information about a ship on VHF marine radio, including its position, speed, direction, cargo, classification and destination. An AIS unit transmits all this information in real time, ship to ship and ship to shore, without a central…

28 Feb

2004 Plimsoll Awards won by Mississippi river pilot, Coast Guard R&D Center for support of AIS

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Tugboats & Towing

The editors of Professional Mariner have presented the Plimsoll Awards for 2004 to Capt. Douglas J. Grubbs of the Crescent River Port Pilots' Association and to the U.S. Coast Guard's Research and Development Center in Groton, Conn. Grubbs and the R&D Center were honored for their work in developing automatic identification system technology and promoting its acceptance by mariners. Rear…

27 Feb

DP taking on a larger role in response to the oil industry

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towing

The search for oil and gas has been a driving force in the development of dynamic positioning systems. Drill rigs, for obvious reasons, must maintain a fixed position above the ocean floor. As rigs moved off the continental shelf into water too deep for jack-up rigs or where conventional mooring or anchoring systems were not feasible, computer controlled DP systems…